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Autobiography. 
Poor Richard. Letters. 

By 

Benjamin Franklin 

With a Critical and Biographical Introduction 
and Notes by Ainsworth R. Spofford 

Illustrated 




New York 
D. Appleton and Company 

1900 



TWO COPIES RECEiVEiJ, 

Library of CjngreB^ 
Offloa of tha 

JAN f>^> 1900 ■ 

Register of CopyrlghtSc 






51527 



Copyright, 1899, 
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 



SECOND COPY. 






Benjamin Franklin 
Autobiography — Poor Richard 



The World's Great Books 



Committee of Selection 

Thomas B. Reed William R. Harper 

Speaker of the House President of the 

of Representatives University of Chicago 

Edward Everett Hale Ainsworth R. Spofford 

Author of The Man Of the Congressional 

Without a Country Library 

Rossiter Johnson 

Editor of Little Classics and Editor-in-Chief of this Series 



Aldine Edition 



...I I iMiiy-t ^ 



I I 



\, ^ 



y^/ 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



IN selecting the present volume to form one of the 
Library of the World's Great Books, the editors have 
been guided by a controlling sense of the interest and 
merit of the work, as well as by the world-wide fame of 
the author. The name of Benjamin Franklin is a house- 
hold word in all lands. His modest chronicle of his early 
life, known as his Autobiography, has been read and 
enjoyed by successive generations. The final test of 
literary merit, as well as of intrinsic interest, is the con- 
tinual public demand for new editions. The life of Frank- 
lin has been reprinted in hundreds of editions, and in 
nearly all the languages of the globe. In fact, it is one of 
the half-dozen books for which merit and public demand 
make a perennial market. 

If we seek for the causes of so wide and so lastinsf a 
popularity, they are found in the charming simplicity of 
the style and the engaging interest of the narrative. 
There are few books of which we can say, as of this, that 
the style is as clear as crystal. The words are so happily 
chosen that one thinks no others could convey the author's 
meaning so clearly or forcibly. Franklin always avoided, 
in composition, the tendency to figures of rhetoric, or fine 
language. His sentences, never long or involved, go 
straight to the point. And the impress of a sincere and 
honest personality pervades the entire narrative. The 
author does not play the egotist, modestly records his 
successes, candidly owns the errors of his early life, and 
takes the reader irresistibly into his confidence. 



iv BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

A remarkable fact about the Autobiography of Frank- 
lin is that it first appeared in a foreign language. While 
he left his manuscripts by will to his grandson, William 
Temple Franklin, he had sent a copy of this narrative of 
his life to an intimate friend, M. Veillard, Mayor of Passy, 
near Paris. Dr. Franklin died in 1790, at the age of eighty- 
four, and the next year appeared in Paris a French trans- 
lation of his Autobiography. From this first translation 
it was at once retranslated into English, and rival editions 
were published in London in 1793. This imperfect version, 
made from a French translation, and not at all the original 
Autobiography, was the only text of this remarkable book 
ever printed in English up to the year 18 17, when the 
grandson, after strange and unaccounted-for delays, at 
last published in London, in six volumes, the Works of 
Benjamin Franklin, and among them the Autobiography 
from the Doctor's manuscript. 

The Hon. John Bigelow, long a diplomatic represen- 
tative of the United States in Europe, found and purchased 
in 1867, from the family who had inherited it, the precious 
original manuscript of Franklin's Autobiography, in his 
own handwriting. INIr. Bigelow edited it, and printed it 
in Philadelphia in 1868, and it has since gone through 
several editions. This authentic text is followed in the 
present publication of the work. 

The " Poor Richard's Maxims," here printed, include 
all that is most characteristic and interesting in the long 
series of " Poor Richard's Almanack," which Franklin 
originated and edited, from 1733 to 1758 inclusive. The 
originals of these curious almanacs have now become so 
rare, that a visit to three cities is necessary to secure a 
sight of all the issues. A partial set in the Library of 
Congress, embracing forty-one years of the Almanack, con- 
tains the verv scarce issue for 1758, in which Franklin 
f>rinted a summary of the " Poor Richard " sayings, 
scattered through twenty-five years of his Almanack. 
These pithy, homely adages, so well adapted to plant 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN V 

seeds of prudence and virtue in the common mind, have 
been multiplied by the presses of every nation in Europe, 
under the titles of " The Way to Wealth," " The Sayings 
of Poor Richard," " La Science du bonhomme Richard," 
etc. Seventy-five editions of them are known in English, 
sixty in French, and fifteen in German. 

The remaining portions of our edition of the select 
works of Franklin include his most entertaining and 
instructive Essays and Letters. He excelled as a letter- 
writer, and as a story-teller he had no superior. He was 
also a master of the fine art of irony, and his vein of humour 
colours a large share of his private correspondence. 

Several bibliographies of Frankliniana, or of books and 
other publications written by or relating to him, have been 
published. The list of Franklin publications in the Boston 
Public Library, with the added titles that could be gath- 
ered from all sources, was printed in the Bulletins of that 
Library for i882-'83. A still fuller list was published in 
1889 by Paul L. Ford, in Brooklyn, N. Y. The titles of 
the publications of Franklin's own press are pretty fully 
given in Charles R. Hildeburn's " Century of Printing : 
issues of the press in Pennsylvania, 1685-1784," in two 
volumes (Philadelphia, i885-'86). Henry Stevens's list of 
the books, pamphlets, periodicals, and manuscripts in his 
"Franklin collection," purchased by Congress in 1882, 
was printed in Washington in 1881 as a "History and 
Description of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin." 

How shall we best study this many-sided man, Benja- 
min Franklin ? Shall we apply the method of analysis, 
and view separately the component parts which go to 
make up this impressive whole? We may study him first 
as a boy, working hard for his living, hungrily devouring 
the books that came in his way, writing precocious essays 
for the press, and dropping them secretly in the box of 
the paper on which he worked, resenting the petty tyran- 
nies of his apprenticeship, frugal for himself, generous to 
others, eager to improve, devoting every moment rescued 



vi BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

from toil to his favourite authors, swallowing the many 
chagrins of his servitude (for he was an apprentice to a 
hard master-printer) until he was convinced that forbear- 
ance had ceased to be a virtue — then, with native inde- 
pendence, shaking the dust of Boston from his feet, to 
j>lant them in the streets of Philadelphia. 

We may study him next as a writer, master of a clear, 
forcible, and engaging style, never above his subject, nor 
below it — grave and earnest when reasoning of public 
matters, light and even sportive when writing to friends ; 
full of the happiest analogies, fertile in epilogue, anecdote, 
and fable, to illustrate the point in hand ; master of a 
refined irony and a subtle humour, marshalling all his 
powers to set forth the strongest points in a few words. 
He wrote poor poetry, for the imaginative faculty was 
not strong in him ; but he knew it to be poor, something 
which we can not say of man}- writers of verse and printers 
of the same. 

We may study him as an inventor, alive from his 
earliest years to the defects of existing processes, and fer- 
tile in devising means to improve them ; a keen observer 
all his life of causes and efTects, and of all natural phenom- 
ena ; early experimenting with electricity and galvanism, 
and the first to draw lightning from the clouds, which led 
.to his invention of the lightning-rod; discoverer of an 
unfailing remedy for that dreadful evil, the smoky chim- 
ney ; inventor of the Franklin stove (modestly named by 
him the Pennsylvania fireplace\ which at once increased 
the heat and saved the fuel ; discoverer of the temperature 
of the Gulf-Stream; exhibiting, from youth to old age, 
the scientific bent of his mind. It is wonderful to find 
how many ideas of the highest utility were first suggested 
by Franklin : the first public circulating library, not only 
in America but in the world, founded by him in 1731 (now 
the Library Company of Philadelphia); the first philo- 
sophical or scientific society in America, proposed bv him 
in 1744; the first volunteer militia, organized in 1747; the 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN vii 

first street pavement in America; the first night-watch, 
men for the protection of property ; the first plan for 
street-sweeping ; the first open stove, and the first light- 
ning-rod, already referred to ; the first hospital in Amer- 
ica, in 175 1 (for which he secured the means by organi- 
zation and influence, though he attributed the idea to 
another) ; the first plan for uniting all the American colo- 
nies, proposed by him in the year 1754; the first Amer- 
ican magazine, established by Franklin in 1741 ; and last, 
but by no means least, the first Academy or High School, 
in 1749, since become the University of Pennsylvania. 

We may study him as a printer, early making himself 
master of the art preservative of all the other arts; a 
rapid and accurate compositor, outworking all his fellow- 
journeymen ; a laborious pressman ; an ingenious letter- 
founder upon occasions ; careful of the quality of his 
work, tasteful in details, carrying away the provincial 
public printing from all competitors by superior work- 
manship, promptitude, and strict attention to his business. 
That Franklin's business as a printer was large is evi- 
denced by the testimony of his contemporaries, by the 
handsome profits it yielded, paying him for more than 
twenty years an income of a thousand pounds a year 
(a large sum for those days), and by the long catalogue of 
the productions of his press, which a revived interest in 
all that concerns Franklin has brought to light. A colla- 
tion of titles, gathered from all libraries, sale catalogues, 
and printers' lists, yields the sum total of about four hun- 
dred books and pamphlets bearing the imprint of Benja- 
min Franklin, or of Franklin & Hall, from 1729 to 1765, 
when he relinquished his interest in the printing business, 
in his sixtieth year, to his partner, Daniel Hall. This, of 
course, is exclusive of newspapers, as well as of repeated 
editions of the same work. The list embodies a great 
variety of publications on multifarious subjects, civil and 
ecclesiastical ; poems, essays, political treatises, biography, 
history, classical translations, acts of Parliament relating 



viii BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

to the colonies, conferences and treaties with the Indians, 
Laws and Journals of Pennsylvania, of New Jersey, and 
of Delaware, hymn-books, catechisms, religious treatises, 
almanacs, and broadsides. Of these, no fewer than thirty- 
five were printed by Franklin in the German language, 
which was the native tongue of a very large portion of 
the settlers of Pennsylvania. Of these four hundred pub- 
lications emanating from Franklin's press, no American 
library has so many as half, although several are now 
forming collections of Frankliniana. The Library of Con- 
gress has many specimens of the typography of Franklin's 
press, among them Cicero's " Cato Major, or Treatise of 
Old Age," printed in 1744, with the rubricated title-page, 
which he always considered the best specimen of his 
printing. 

The printing-press on which Franklin worked in Lon- 
don may still be seen in the National Museum in Wash- 
ington. 

Of " Poor Richard's Almanack," first issued by Frank- 
lin in 1733, twenty-six annual numbers were published by 
Franklin, after which, in 1759, it ceased to be edited by 
him, although continued by Hall & Sellers and other pub- 
lishers until 1798. In this publication appeared that re- 
markable series of homely proverbs and pithy counsels 
which, though not all original with Franklin, form a bre- 
viary of life and conduct, admirable in most respects for 
the use of the young. Those who are accustomed to 
sneer at Franklin's morality as embod^dng onlj^ " the 
maxims of a low prudence " would do wisely to consider 
whether they can produce others better adapted, upon the 
whole, to improve and elevate mankind. 

We may stud}' him next as a journalist, a profession 
which he may be said never to have relinquished, although 
it was not pursued as his chief avocation. Franklin was 
one of the earliest of American periodical writers. From 
his first political composition, as a 'prentice boy of six- 
teen, to his last contribution to the Philadelphia " Federal 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IX 

Gazette " in 1790, three weeks before his death, Franklin 
was a frequent and always instructive contributor to the 
press. The columns of the " London Chronicle," pre- 
served in the Library of Congress, attest his zeal in the 
discussion of public affairs, and of political and social in- 
terests, while he was resident in London from 1757 to 
1775. His journalistic writings were always anonymous; 
but it is not difficult to trace him by his style, and by 
contemporary allusions in his own writings and those of 
others. In this way he discussed questions of science, of 
administration, and of popular liberty, in a style that fas- 
cinated the reading world, and left a marked impression 
on public opinion. Indeed, as a propagandist of liberal 
thought in politics, on both sides of the sea, Franklin's 
influence can not be overrated. 

Franklin was a lifelong protestant against human 
slavery ; not only against the detestable traffic in slaves, 
but against the existence of the institution itself. He was 
President of the Pennsylvania Society for promoting abo- 
lition, and wrote a plan for improving the condition of the 
free negroes. With members of the Society of Friends 
and others, he memorialized the first Congress, praying 
that body " to step to the very verge of the power vested 
in them for discouraging every species of traffic in the 
persons of our fellow-men." His last public effort was a 
letter to the " Federal Gazette " upon the debate in Con- 
gress in March, 1790, on this petition. In it he exposed, 
in the guise of an Algerine, the defence of slavery and 
piracy, the arguments for human bondage, and, with 
caustic satire and inimitable wit, showed the fallacy of 
every plea for slavery. This article, signed " Historicus," 
evinces the spirit that burned in the breast of the dying 
Franklin, and the acuteness of his intellectual powers, 
even when he was racked with pain, at the age of 
eighty-four. 

A large share of his early papers appeared in the col- 
umns of his own journal, the " Pennsylvania Gazette." 



X BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

This ho ostaMislu\l it\ i7-\x anJ it was continued weekly 
or semi-wceklv until 17(^5, when Franklin's interest ceased, 
nlthouiih the "Cia:-ette*' was published under other names 
until iS.js. when it was nieTi;ed in the Philade^ihia 
**Noi(h Auiei iean."' atter an existence ol one lunuhed and 
seveuttUMi years. 

I'ranklin also established the tirst American maga/ine. 
in januai \ . i-.n, under the title «.^t " The Cicncnil Maza- 
rine auvl llistoiical Cluonicle tor all the British Planta- 
tions in America." But this enterprise tailed of adequate 
support, and attcr six monthly luimbers had appeared it 
was vliscontinued. The dav ot popular maga.ines mul- 
tiplied by the hxmdred thousand had not dawned, and 
Fn\nklin's subscribers, a select tew out ol the sparse 
population ot reiuisvlvania. did Uvn keep alive tlie new 
enterprise. 

We may study him also as a philanthropist, as a bene- 
tactor ot his species; and here he holds a place among- the 
highest. His was no theoixnical benevolence, preaching 
g\xxi-\vill to man while putting* forth no effort to aid him. 
The bent of Franklin's mind, as well as the tenor of his 
life, was intensely practical. He was ever studying ways 
aiui means to better the human cv^nditions that surrv>undecl 
him. To him the American public of a century and a 
half agv> yven? indebted for the first sug-gestions ever real- 
ijsed of Siinitarv laws, of the prc»per ventilation of houses, 
of clean streets, of lighted thoroughfan^s, of pavements in 
place of mud. of prv'»teotion agi^inst fires, of smv^^ke-con- 
suming- thies, and of cv^mfortable homes. The homely, 
practical wisdom of his benevolence w as evinced in his 
gift to the town of Fn\nklin. Mass^ichusetts, onranired 
in i,-*S and adoptin^^ his name. The town causevi the 
philosopher, then reprt^sentin^ his country in l'^aris, to be 
inf«.>rmt\l of this honour, adding^ that they would build a 
steeple to their church it he would send them a bell for it. 
Franklin s reply sagraciouslr advised them to s;ive the cv>st 
of a steeple, " A new town," he sa\"^ in a letter to an 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN xi 

American friend, " havins: done me the honour of naminc: 
itself after mc, and proposing to build a steeple to their 
meeting-house, if 1 would give them a bell, I have advised 
the sparing themselves the expense of a steeple for the 
present, and that they would accept of books instead of a 
bell, sense being preferable to sound." 

Franklin's native benevolence was manifested in his 
efforts, in negotiating the Treaty of Peace with Great 
Britain in 1782, to get privateering and the taking of 
private property on land in time of war condemned and 
renounced by all the great powers. He failed to secure 
this, but he showed himself none the less (as in his earlier 
proposal to substitute arbitration for war in the settle- 
ment of national disputes) a full century in advance of his 
time. " In my opinion," he records, with sententious 
brevity, " there never was a good war, nor a bad peace." 

We may study Franklin as a moralist, and we shall 
find the keynote to his creed, as well as to his character, 
in the one word — utility. Franklin firmly believed that 
the highest good is to be sought in what is most useful to 
mankind. He was not an idealist on the one hand, and 
he was far from being a materialist on the other. Some 
persons, struck with the intense utilitarian bent of Frank- 
lin's mind, have denied him any considerable measure of 
the spiritual faculty ; but his writings evince an ever- 
present faith in immortality and in a Supreme Being. 
In his Autobiography he sums up a whole system of 
morals in a sentence, when he suggests that certain ac- 
tions are not bad because they are forbidden, but they 
are forbidden because they are bad. His was a benevo- 
lent and reverential spirit. Writing to a near friend of 
the departure from the world of those he had known, he 
says : " Last year carried off my friends Dr. Pringle, Dr. 
Fothcrgill, and Lord Kames : this has begun to take away 
the rest. I say to my other remaining old friends, the 
fewer we become, the more let us love one another." At 
the age of seventy-eight he writes : " I still exist, and still 



xii BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

enjoy some pleasure in that existence, though now in my 
seventy-ninth year. Yet I feel the infirmities of age come 
on so fast, and the building to need so many repairs, that 
in a little time the owner will find it cheaper to pull it 
down and build a new one." 

He always speaks of death as only a passing from one 
stage of life to another : " I look upon death to be as neces- 
sary to our constitution as sleep. We shall rise refreshed 
in the morning." At the age of fourscore he thus wrote : 
" When I see nothing annihilated, and not even a drop of 
water wasted, I can not suspect the annihilation of souls, 
or believe that God will suffer the daily waste of millions 
of minds ready-made that now exist, and put himself to 
the continual trouble of making new ones. Thus, finding 
myself to exist in the world, I believe I shall, in some shape 
or other, always exist ; and with all the inconveniences 
human life is liable to, I shall not object to a new edition 
of mine ; hoping, however, that the errata of the last may 
be corrected." 

Franklin was constitutionally, as well as from prin- 
ciple, an optimist. To do good, and to let results take 
care of themselves, was his religion. He believed in the 
best for this world, and for the world to come. And 
here, familiar as it may be to most readers, I can not omit 
quoting the epitaph composed by Franklin in very early 
life for himself ; it is one of the finest passages in the 
English language : 

The Body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer, (like the cover of an old 
book, its contents torn out, and stript of its lettering and gilding) lies 
here, food for worms. But the work shall not be lost ; for it will (as he 
believed) appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised 
and corrected by the Author. 

We may study Franklin as a humourist, rarely gifted 
with powers of wit, sarcasm, and irony, which yet were 
always employed without the smallest sting of animosity. 
His Autobiography has several touches of this, where 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN xiii 

he tells of Keimer, the printer, a great glutton, who in- 
vited two friends and Franklin to dine with him, and or- 
dered a roast pig : " But, it being brought too soon upon 
table," sa)'s Franklin, " he could not resist the temptation, 
and ate the whole before we came." Of his long absti- 
nence from animal food in his youth, and its abandon- 
ment, he tells us that he once considered the catching and 
eating of fish as unprovoked murder. " But," says he 
" I had formerly been a great lover of fish, and when a 
fine cod came hot out of the frying-pan it smelt admira- 
bly well. I balanced some time, between principle and 
inclination, till I recollected that, when the fish were 
opened, I saw smaller fish taken out of their stomachs ; 
then thought I, * If you eat one another, I don't see why 
we may not eat you.' So I dined upon cod very heart- 
ily, and continued to eat with other people, only return- 
ing now and then occasionally to the vegetable diet." 

When Franklin was soldiering in Pennsylvania during 
the French and Indian war, the chaplain complained to 
him that the men did not attend his prayers. Franklin 
had observed that the militia were prompt to call for 
their allowance of spirits, one gill a day to each man, half 
in the morning and half at night. So he said to the chap- 
Iain : " It is perhaps below the dignity of your profession 
to act as steward of the rum ; but if you were to deal out 
the ration, and only just after prayers, you would have 
them all about you." The scheme was adopted, " and 
never," says Franklin, " were prayers more generally or 
more punctually attended." 

To his friend Mrs. Hewson, an English woman whom 
he greatly esteemed, Franklin wrote from Paris, in 1777, 
at the height of the Revolutionary War : " I want all of 
my friends out of that wicked country (meaning England). 
I have just seen in the paper seven paragraphs about me, 
of which six were lies." 

When sent to Canada, in 1776, to aid in detaching the 
allegiance of its people to the British Crown, Franklin car- 



xiv BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

ried a printing-press, and two papers were issued, de- 
signed for effect upon the country people, when it was 
discovered that only about one Canadian in five hundred 
could read. The Doctor very wisely suggested, that if 
another mission were to be sent to Canada, it should con- 
sist of schoolmasters. His burlesque letter from the 
Count de Schaumburg, ridiculing, with the sharpest irony, 
the British employment of hired Hessian troops in Amer- 
ica, is a masterpiece of humour. 

When American Minister in Paris, Franklin was 
greatly pressed by what he called " mad requests " for 
recommendations to military commissions from French- 
men of whom he had never heard. To rid himself of 
these importunities, he prepared the following form of a 
letter of introduction: 

Sir : The bearer of this, who is going to America, presses me to give 
him a letter of recommendation, though I know nothing of him, not even 
his name. This may seem extraordinary, but I assure you it is not 
uncommon here. Sometimes, indeed, one unknown person brings 
another equally unknown to recommend him ; and sometimes they recom- 
mend one another. As to this gentleman, I must refer you to himself for 
his character and merits, with which he is certainly better acquainted than 
I can possibly be. I recommend him, however, to those civilities which 
every stranger of whom one knows no harm has a right to ; and I request 
that you will do him all the good offices, and show him all the favour, that 
on further acquaintance you shall find him to deserve. I have the honour 
to be, etc. 

Writing to his daughter, Mrs. Sarah Bache, in 1779, 
who had sent to him for some Paris goods, and among 
them lace and feathers, he says : " I send all the articles you 
desire, that are useful and necessary, and omit the rest ; 
for as you say you should have great pride in wearing 
anything I send, and showing it as your father's taste, I 
must avoid giving you an opportunity of doing that with 
either lace or feathers. If you wear your cambric ruffles 
as I do, and take care not to mend the holes, they will 
come in time to be lace ; and feathers, my dear girl, may 
be had in America from every cock's tail." 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN XV 

Franklin was a merciless satirist of that feature in the 
military Order of the Cincinnati, after the Revolutionary 
War, which made their rank hereditary. " Honour worthily 
obtained, as that of our officers," he wrote, " is in its 
nature a personal thing, and incommunicable. But the 
absurdity of descending honours is capable of mathematical 
demonstration. A man's son, for instance, is but half of 
his family, the other half belonging to the family of his 
wife. His son, too, marrying into another family, his share 
in the grandson is but a fourth ; in the great-grandson it 
is but an eighth. Thus, in nine generations in a descend- 
ing ratio, our present Chevalier of the Order of Cincinnati's 
share in the then existing knight will be but a five hundred 
and twelfth part. This simple process in arithmetic makes 
it quite plain that, in proportion as the antiquity of the 
family shall augment, the right to the honour of the ances- 
tor will diminish." He tells a correspondent of " a proud 
girl in my country, who wished and resolved not to marry 
a parson, nor a Presbyterian, nor an Irishman ; and at 
length found herself married to an Irish Presb3'terian 
parson." 

We may study Franklin as a legislator and a statesman, 
Member of the Assembly of Pennsylvania, and Chairman 
of the Committee of Safety ; delegate to the Continental 
Congress in i775-'76> ^•nd one of the committee of five who 
reported the immortal Declaration of Independence, 
which, though mainly Jefferson's, bears many marks of 
Franklin's pen ; member of the Convention that formed 
the Constitution, now more than one hundred years old, 
under which we live; and President of Pennsylvania from 
1785 to 1788. In all these responsible places Franklin 
was a recognised leading spirit. In the Pennsylvania 
Legislature men used to say of any proposed measure the 
success of which was desired : " We must get Franklin to 
take it up." In the Constitutional Convention of 1787 
Franklin was the great conciliator, whose influence harmo- 
nized opposing views, and more than once brought agree- 



xvi BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

ment out of discord. He it was who saved the Union of 
the States, by proposing, when the Convention was about 
to split upon the contention of the small States for equal 
political power with the larger ones, that their claim 
should be compromised by allowing equal representation 
in the Senate to all the States, but in the House represen- 
tation in proportion to numbers only. This happy solution 
of the difficulty was hailed almost as an inspiration, and 
was at once adopted. Standing always for popular rights, 
he insisted on the power of impeaching the President ; as 
a faithless executive, he said, could not otherwise be got 
rid of, except by revolution. He opposed, in a vigorous 
speech, a proposal to limit the suffrage to freeholders, or 
the owners of property, saying that he did not think that 
the elected had any right, in any case, to narrow the 
privileges of the electors. 

It is notable that while Hamilton, a young man of thirty, 
led the conservatives, Franklin, the patriarch of eighty 
years, was the exponent of the democratic ideas of the 
Convention. He had unlimited faith in the capacity of 
man for self-government. Jefferson himself was not more 
a republican than was Franklin, and time has amply vin- 
dicated the wisdom of both. 

We may study him next as a diplomatist, taking his 
first lessons in that art in councils and treaties Avith the 
Indians, then sent to London in 1757 as agent for Pennsyl- 
vania, where he remained five years ; then, returning home 
for a brief time, he was sent back in 1764 (being soon after- 
ward chosen agent abroad for Massachusetts, New Jersey, 
and Georgia), to remain until war broke out in 1775. The 
very next year, after a brief mission to the people of Can- 
ada in behalf of the colonies, he was commissioned to 
France by the Continental Congress, and continued to 
reside in Paris, joined with other commissioners, or as 
Minister Plenipotentiary, during ten years, returning to 
Philadelphia in 1785. During his career as representative 
in Great Britain and France, extending over nearly a 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN XVU 

quarter of a century, Franklin achieved for his country 
more consideration and honour than any man that ever 
lived. George the Third is said to have warned his min- 
isters against " that crafty American, who is more than a 
match for you all." His memorable examination before 
the House of Commons in 1766, which led to the repeal of 
the odious Stamp Act, exhibited all the great qualities of 
his mind in full lustre. Clear, cool, good-humoured, saga- 
cious, prudent, determined, it was Benjamin Franklin 
against the British Ministry and the whole power of the 
British Empire, and the sturdy republican triumphed. 
His answers to the interrogatories put by members of the 
administration and others in Parliament evince a states- 
manship as rare as his personal demeanour was admirable. 
It won him hosts of friends, who became friends of the 
colonies. It roused the doubtful and indifferent to the 
justice of the principles asserted in behalf of America, 
whose people had been denied the birthright of English- 
men. Franklin's presence in London during this critical 
period, received continually in the best circles, and assert- 
ing by voice and pen, in his persuasive style, the rights 
and liberties of his countrymen, influenced British opinion 
more powerfully than any other agency. 

Though it did not prevent the war, which an infatuated 
King and ministry waged for the subjugation of America, 
it raised up hosts of friends in the very camp of the enemy. 
And the same consummate skill in diplomacy was quickly 
transferred to the court of France, where Franklin became 
a power which is to this day an enigma to all who have 
not arrived at a true estimate of his character. In less 
than two years he secured for the struggling colonies a 
treaty of recognition so broad and generous that other 
nations followed France in lending aid to America. He 
fitted out vessel after vessel with ammunition and supplies. 
He met every doubt or distrust with calm assurance of 
ultimate success, based upon his intimate knowledge of the 
spirit and resources of his countrymen, the blunders of 



xviii BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

the enemy, and the divided counsels of the British people. 
He borrowed, on the faith of the United States, more than 
eighteen millions of dollars — a great sum at a time when 
Europe was in the midst of war, when the infant colonies 
were poor and military reverses frequent. Over and 
over again, when his colleagues, by their imprudence, were 
near wrecking the American cause abroad, he saved the 
alliance by his consummate skill. 

We may study Franklin lastly as a man, and the more 
we become familiar with his life, his person, and his writ- 
ings, the higher will our estimate of him rise. Born to 
poverty, the youngest of seventeen children, with less than 
two years of schooling, this boy, who began life with sell- 
ing ballads in Boston streets, rose by unwearied industry, 
shrewdness, and capacity to be a leader among men, whom 
two worlds have delighted to honour. He never en- 
joyed the advantages of a high school, or a university ; but 
he carried a university in his head, and was made doctor 
of laws by American and European institutions of learn- 
ing. After he was twenty-one, he taught himself to read 
Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, and German, and gathered 
the largest and best private library in America ; he was a 
lifelong student and writer, as well as an active man of 
business, and learned to speak French after he was seventv. 
The distinguishing elements of his character were modesty, 
good-humour, application, and unfailing tact ; these, joined 
with a large-mindedness which impressed all whom he 
met, and his wholesome, cheerful nature, made him that 
great master of the art of living whom Ave all recognise. 
Franklin's economy had in it no element that was penu- 
rious or sordid. He lived on bran bread and water as an 
apprentice, but he spent the money he thus saved upon 
books. If his London lodgings in early years cost him 
but one shilling sixpence a week, he lent money to needy 
friends. All will remember his naive relation of how he 
was moved by the eloquence of the Rev. George White- 
field, the great Methodist preacher, from a resolve to give 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN xix 

nothing to emptying his pocket of copper, silver, and gold 
for the evangelist's great charity school in Georgia. 
While his prudence was great, his generosity was con- 
spicuous. The errors of his early life, frankly and in- 
genuously owned in his Autobiography, were all mended, 
and no man, perhaps, ever achieved more success in sub- 
duing passions naturally strong. As a worker among 
men, Franklin had the rarest faculty of accomplishing his 
purpose by enlisting the zeal of others, and placing them 
in the apparent lead. He never obtruded Dr. Franklin, 
let others make speeches and draw eloquent and high- 
sounding papers, never roused opposition when it could 
be avoided without sacrificing principle ; and thus he 
carried measures which men of equal genius but more 
imperious nature would have lost. He never attempted 
to drive men ; always to lead them. In the Constitutional 
Convention, as in his diplomatic career, Franklin was the 
great conciliator. His wonderful modesty contrasted 
strongly with the colossal egotism of John Adams and the 
irritable vanity of Arthur Lee and Ralph Izard. In Paris 
Franklin shone not only as a man of genius, but as the 
master of genuine courtesy. Mingling with courtiers, 
philosophers, and free-thinkers, with his simple republican 
garb and manners, he taught politeness to the politest 
nation in the world. He enjoyed and still enjoys a fame 
abroad never accorded to any other American. He was 
on terms of familiar correspondence and intercourse with 
such men as David Hume, Lord Kames, Edmund Burke, 
Lafayette, Dr. Priestley, Lord Chatham, Wilberforce, 
Diderot, D'Alembert, Thomas Paine, Charles James Fox, 
Dr. Richard Price, Sir William Jones, the Abh6 Morellet, 
Brissot de Warville, Beaumarchais, the Marquis de Chas- 
tellux, the Abbe Barth^lemy, Voltaire, Condorcet, and 
Turgot. He was a favourite guest in the salons of Madame 
du Deffand, Madame Helvetius, and Madame d'Houdetot. 
Sir James Mackintosh called Franklin " the American 
Socrates." Madison wrote of him : " His native genius 



XX BENJAMIN P^RANKLIN 

was not more an ornament to human nature than his va- 
rious exertions of it have been precious to science, to free- 
dom, and to his country." Lord Brougham classes him 
among the foremost statesmen of George the Third's 
time, and says: " In this truly great man everything seems 
to concur that goes toward the constitution of exalted 
merit." Says George Bancroft : *' Franklin looked quietly 
and deeply into the secrets of nature. An exquisite pro- 
priety, parsimonious of ornament, gave ease of expression 
and graceful simplicity even to his most careless writ- 
ings." Lord Chatham conferred upon him the splendid 
eulogy, in a speech in the House of Lords, that he was a 
man " who was an honour, not to the English nation only, 
but to human nature." The French historian INIignet, 
who wrote one of the best of the numerous biographies of 
Franklin, says of him : " Poor, he achieved wealth by his 
industry ; ignorant, he raised himself by stud}- to a man of 
science ; unknown, he won by his discoveries and by his 
services, by the elevation of his ideas, and by the extent 
of his benefactions, the admiration of Europe and the 
gratitude of America. Franklin possessed at once genius 
and virtue, glory and good fortune. His life, a uniformly 
happy one, affords the finest vindication of the laws of 
Providence. He was not only great, he was good ; he was 
not only just, he was amiable." John Foster, the essayist, 
wrote of him : " He appears to have possessed an almost 
invincible self-command, which bore him through all the 
negotiations, strifes with ignorance, obstinacy, duplicity, 
and opposing interests, with sustained firmness, and with 
a prudence of deportment beyond the attainment of the 
most disciplined adept in mere political intrigue." Jef- 
ferson wrote of him : " There appeared to me more re- 
spect and veneration attached to the character of Frank- 
lin in France than to that of any other person in the same 
country, foreign or native. The succession to Dr. Frank- 
lin at the court of France was an excellent school of hu- 
mility. The commonplace w-as, ' II est vous, Monsieur, 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN xxi 

qui remplacez Ic Docteur Franklin?' — 'It is you, sir, 
who replace Dr. Franklin?' I generally answered, 'No 
one can replace him, sir: I am only his successor.'" 
" The name of Franklin," said President Si^yes to the 
French Assembly, " will be immortal in the records of 
freedom and philosophy ; " and he lauds "the simplicity 
and sweetness of his manners, the purity of his principles, 
the extent of his knowledge, and the charms of his mind." 
Dr. Musschenbroek, a learned German philosopher, ad- 
dressed Dr. Franklin in the stateliest Latin he could com- 
mand : " Franklino nobilissimo amplissimoque." Mirabeau, 
foremost of French orators, said to the Assembly, when 
the news of Franklin's death arrived : " The sage, whom 
two worlds claim ; the man, disputed by the history of 
the sciences and the history of empires, holds an elevated 
rank among the human species. He was one of the 
greatest men that ever have served the cause of philos- 
ophy and of liberty." Reviewing one of his moral essays, 
the French critic Sainte-Beuve says : " Among the phi- 
losophers of the eighteenth century, I find none but Mon- 
tesquieu who could have thought in this style ; but 
Franklin expresses himself in a more touching manner 
than Montesquieu could have done." Condorcet, who 
delivered his eulogium in the French Academy, of which 
Franklin was a member, says of Franklin's writings : 
" Among them all we look in vain for a single line which 
can be suspected of having been written for his own glory. 
His politics were those of a man who believed in the 
power of reason and the reality of virtue, and who had 
sought to render himself the instructor of his fellow- 
citizens before he became their legislator." George 
Washington, who always measured his words, wrote to 
Franklin in 1789 (one year before Franklin's death, and 
ten years before that of Washington himself) : " If to be 
venerated for benevolence, if to be admired for talents, if 
to be esteemed for patriotism, if to be beloved for philan- 
thropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have the 



xxii BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

pleasing consolation to know that you have not lived in 
vain." 

In France the name of Franklin is still loved and ven- 
erated, and his picture is found alike in the cottages of 
peasants and in fashionable salons. There is no man that 
ever lived, not even Washington, whose features are more 
familiar to the world. Engraved in every form of illus- 
tration, and sculptured in busts and statues, in bronze or 
marble, from the cheapest woodcut in the primer to 
Hiram Powers's colossal statue in the Capitol, clad in the 
authentic costume of his time, we meet everywhere those 
strongly moulded, benignant features, impressive and win- 
ning. Sixty-two American towns have been named for 
Franklin. 

His life and his success bear witness to the fact that 
true greatness is always allied to simplicity. Study him 
how we may, we find in him no love of power, of office, 
or of money, and not the smallest ambition for display. 
When thrown into the conduct of large affairs, he was 
easily great ; and his courage and capacity seemed to rise 
with every crisis or emergency. He had his detractors 
and calumniators, iust as some of the Athenians de- 
nounced Aristides, tired of hearing him always called the 
Just; but time has amply vindicated his fame. His works, 
of which more than one hundred editions of greater or 
less fulness have appeared, are his monument. His 
diplomatic and unpublished manuscript papers, after Iving 
in Furopc for eightv vears, were finally rescued from 
oblivion, purchased b}' Congress in 1882, and are now de- 
posited in the Department of State, with those of Wash- 
ington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. His style — fresh, 
idiomatic, and strong — was formed upon his early reading 
of John Bunvan. Plutarch's " Lives," Addison's " Specta- 
tor." and the Bible. Read his Autobiography, Essa3-s, and 
other writings, and vou will find them full of sense and 
humour and practical wisdom. His services to American 
education can not be overrated. He was one of the great 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN xxiii 

political thinkers of the world. He was deficient in im- 
agination, but he had a great and powerful understand- 
ing, and reasoning faculties of the highest order. The 
extraordinary good fortune which produced, in the great 
exigencies that marked the formative period in our na- 
tional history, such a galaxy of men eminent for states- 
manship, for valour, for broad-mindedness, and for patriot- 
ism, can never be adequately measured. And when we 
count up the roll of illustrious Americans, whatever place 
may be assigned to others, the name of Benjamin Frank- 
lin will hold a permanent rank among the great benefac- 
tors of mankind. • 

AiNSwoRTii R. Spofford. 



FAMOUS AND UNIQUE MANUSCRIPT AND 
BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS. 

A series of fac-similes, showing the development of manuscript and 
book illustrating during four thousand years. 



THE ANNUNCIATION. 

Miniature from a "Book of Hours," written in Flanders 
in 1442 A. D. 



:Li I 



'%§ 



iOMA? 



■Ria to h: 
.itBy[ ba. 



n-ibnem. ai imm^ jiooa** s moil ^wlBiaiM 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Autobiography i 

Sayings of Poor Richard 185 

Essays and Correspondence 249 

XXV 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

Benjamin Franklin Frontispiece 

Photogravure from a painting by Joseph S. Duplcssis 

The Annunciation xxlv ^ 

Miniature from a " Book of Hours," written in Flanders in 1442 

A. D. 

Franklin as a Poet 12 "' 

Photogravure from a drawing made for this work 

Original Buildings of the Pennsylvania Academy, now y 

THE University of Pennsylvania 126 

Photogravure from an old lithograph 

Benjamin Franklin 248 ^ 

Photogravure from a painting by John Martin 

Franklin's Birthplace, which stood on Milk Street, , 

opposite the Old South Church, Boston . . . 382 "^ 

Photogravure from an old lithograph owned by the Bostonian 
Society 

xxvii 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



TwvroRD, ai the Bishop of Si. Asaph's,^ 1771. 

DEAR SON : 1 have ever had pleasure in obtaining 
any little anecdotes of my ancestors. You may 
remember the inquiries I made among- the re- 
mains of my relations when you were with me in Eng-^ 
land, and the journey I undertook for that purpose. Im. 
agining it may be equally agreeable to you to know the 
circumstances of my life, many of which you are yet unac- 
quainted with, and expecting the enjoyment of a week's 
uninterrupted leisure in my present country retirement, I 
sit down to write them for you. To which I have besides 
some other inducements. Having emerged from the pov- 
erty and obscurity in which I was born and bred, to a 
state of afillucnce and some degree of reputation in the 
world, and having gone so far through life with a consid- 
erable share of felicity, the conducing means I made use 
of, which with the blessing of God so well succeeded, my 
posterity may like to know, as they may find some of 
them suitable to their own situations, and therefore lit to 
be imitated. 

That felicity, when I reflected on it, has induced me 
sometimes to say, that were it offered to my choice, I 

' Jonathan Shipley, the bishop referred to, was a firm friend of Ameri- 
can liberty, and voted with Chatham in 1778 ajjainst the continuance of 
the war. Franklin often breathed " the sweet air of Twyford," near Win- 
chester, during his residence in England. — A. R. S. 
I I 



2 FRANKLIN 

should have no objection to a repetition of the same life 
from its beginning, only asking the advantages authors 
have in a second edition to correct some faults of the first. 
So I might, besides correcting the faults, change some 
sinister accidents and events of it for others more favor- 
able. But though this were denied, I should still accept 
the offer. Since such a repetition is not to be expected, 
the next thing most like living one's life over again seems 
to be a recollection of that life, and to make that recol- 
lection as durable as possible by putting it down in 
writing. 

Hereby, too, I shall indulge the inclination so natural 
in old men, to be talking of themselves and their own past 
actions ; and I shall indulge it without being tiresome to 
others, who, through respect to age, might conceive them- 
selves obliged to give me a hearing, since this may be read 
or not as any one pleases. And, lastly (I may as well con- 
fess it, since my denial of it will be believed by nobody), 
perhaps I shall a good deal gratify my own vanity. In- 
deed, I scarce ever heard or saw the introductory words, 
" Without vanity I may say" etc., but some vain thing im- 
mediately followed. Most people dislike vanity in others, 
whatever share they have of it themselves ; but I give it 
fair quarter wherever I meet with it, being persuaded that 
it is often productive of good to the possessor, and to oth- 
ers that are within his sphere of action ; and therefore, in 
many cases, it would not be altogether absurd if a man 
were to thank God for his vanity among the other com- 
forts of life. 

And now I speak of thanking God, I desire with all 
humility to acknowledge that I owe the mentioned hap- 
piness of my past life to His kind providence, which lead 
me to the means I used and gave them success. My be- 
lief of this induces me to hope, though I must not presume, 
that the same goodness will still be exercised toward me, 
in continuing that happiness, or enabling me to bear a 
fatal reverse, which I may experience as others have 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 3 

done ; the complexion of my future fortune being known 
to Him only in whose power it is to bless to us even our 
afflictions. 

The notes one of my uncles (who had the same kind 
of curiosity in collecting family anecdotes) once put into 
my hands, furnished me with several particulars relating 
to our ancestors. From these notes I learned that the 
family had lived in the same village, Ecton, in Northamp- 
tonshire, for three hundred years, and how much longer 
he knew not (perhaps from the time when the name of 
Franklin, that before was the name of an order of people, 
was assumed by them as a surname when others took sur- 
names all over the kingdom), on a freehold of about thirty 
acres, aided by the smith's business, which had continued 
in the family till his time, the eldest son being always bred 
to that business ; a custom which he and my father fol- 
lowed as to their eldest sons. When I searched the reg- 
isters at Ecton, I found an account of their births, mar- 
riages and burials from the year 1555 only, there being no 
registers kept in that parish at any time preceding. By 
that register I perceived that I was the youngest son of 
the youngest son for five generations back. My grand- 
father Thomas, who was born in 1598, lived at Ecton till 
he grew too old to follow business longer, when he went 
to live with his son John, a dyer at Banbury, in Oxford- 
shire, with whom my father served an apprenticeship. 
There my grandfather died and lies buried. We saw 
his gravestone in 1758. His eldest son Thomas lived in 
the house at Ecton, and left it with the land to his only 
child, a daughter, who, with her husband, one Fisher, 
of Wellingborough, sold it to Mr. Isted, now lord of the 
manor there. My grandfather had four sons that grew 
up, viz. : Thomas, John, Benjamin and Josiah. I will give 
you what account I can of them, at this distance from my 
papers, and if these are not lost in my absence, you will 
among them find many more particulars. 

Thomas was bred a smith under his father ; but, being 



4 FRANKLIN 

iii^onious. aiul oiu\nuai;ci.l in learning' (as all mv brothers 
wore) by an Esquire rainier, then the principal gentleman 
in that parish, he qualified himself for the business of 
scrivener; became a considerable man in the county ; was 
a chiei mover ot all public-spirited undertakings for the 
county or town ot Northampton, and his old village, of 
whieh m.uw instances were related of him ; and much 
taken notice ot and patronized bv the then Lord Halifax, 
lie died in 170J, January o, old stvlc, just four years to a 
day before I was born. The account we received of his 
lite and character Irom some old people at Kcton. 1 re- 
member, struck you as something extraordinary, Irom its 
similarity to what you knew of mine. " Had he died on 
the same day." you said, '* one might have supposed a 
transmigration." 

John was bred a dyer, 1 believe of woolens. Benja- 
min was b; ed a silk dyer, serving an apprenticeship at 
London. He was an ingenious man. I remember him 
well, for w hen I was a bov he came over to my father in 
r>oston, and lived in the house with us some yeai*s. He 
lived to a great age. His grandson, Samuel Franklin, now 
lives in Boston. He lett behind him two quarto volumes, 
MS., of his own poetry, consisting of little occasional 
pieces addressed to his friends and relations, of which the 
following, sent to me. is a specimen. He had formed a 
short-hand of his own. which he taught me, but, never 
practising it. I have now forgot it. 1 was named after 
this uncle, there being a particular atTection between him 
and my tather. He was very pious, a great attcnder of 
sermons of the best preachers, which he took down in his 
short-hand, and had with him many volumes of them. He 
was also much of a politician : too much, perhaps, for his 
station. There fell lately into my hands, in London, a 
collection he had made of all the principal pamphlets re- 
lating to public atTaii-s. from 1641 to 1717: many of the 
volumes are wanting as appears by the numbering, but 
there still remain eii^ht volumes in folio, and twentv-four 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 5 

in quarto and in octavo. A dealer in old books met with 
them, and knowinc^ mc by my sometimes buying- of him, 
he brought them to me. It seems my uncle must have 
left them here when he went to America, which was 
above fifty years since. There arc many of his notes in 
the margins. 

This obscure family of ours was early in the Reforma- 
tion, and continued Protestants through the reign of 
Queen Mary, when they were sometimes in danger of 
trouble on account of their zeal against popery. They 
had got an English Bible, and to conceal and secure it, 
it was fastened open with tapes under and within the 
cover of a joint-stool. When my great-grandfather read 
it to his family, he turned up the joint-stool upon his 
knees, turning over the leaves then under the tapes. One 
of the children stood at the door to give notice if he saw 
the apparitor coming, who was an officer of the spiritual 
court. In that case the stool was turned down again upon 
its feet, when the Bible remained concealed under it as 
before. This anecdote I had from my uncle Benjamin. 
The familv continued all of the Church of England 
till about the end of Charles the Second's reign, when 
some of the ministers that had been outed for non-con- 
formity holding conventicles in Northamptonshire, Ben- 
jamin and Josiah adhered to them, and so continued all 
their lives : the rest of the family remained with the 
Episcopal Church. 

Josiah, my father, married young, and carried his wife 
with three children into New England, about 1682. The 
conventicles having been forbidden by law, and frequently 
disturbed, induced some considerable men of his ac- 
quaintance to remove to that country, and he was prevailed 
with to accompany them thither, where they expected to 
enjoy their mode of religion with freedom. By the same 
wife he had four children more born there, and by a sec- 
ond wife ten more, in all seventeen ; of which I remember 
thirteen sitting at one time at his table, who all grew up 



6 FRANKLIN 

to be men and women, and married ; I was the youngest 
son, and the youngest child but two, and was born in 
Boston, New England.' My mother, the second wife, was 
Abiah Folgcr, daughter of Peter Folger, one of the first 
settlers of New England, of whom honorable mention is 
made by Cotton Mather, in his church history of that 
country, entitled " Magnalia Christi Americana," as "« 
godly, learned EnglisJnnan^' if I remember the words 
rightly. I have heard that he wrote sundry small occa- 
sional pieces, but only one of them was printed, which I 
saw now many years since. It was written in 1675, in the 
home-spun verse of that time and people, and addressed 
to those then concerned in the government there. It was 
in favor of liberty of conscience, and in behalf of the 
Baptists, Quakers, and other sectaries that had been under 
persecution, ascribing the Indian wars, and other distresses 
that had befallen the country, to that persecution, as so 
many judgments of God to punish so heinous an offense, 
and exhorting a repeal of those uncharitable laws. The 
whole appeared to me as written with a good deal of de- 
cent plainness and manly freedom. The six concluding 
lines I remember, though I have forgotten the two first 
of the stanza ; but the purport of them was, that his cen- 
sures proceeded from goodwill, and, therefore, he would 
be known to be the author. 

" Because to be a libeller (says he) 
I hate it with my heart ; 
From Sherburne town, where now I dwell 

My name I do put here ; 
Without offense your real friend, 
It is Peter Folgier." 

M}'' elder brothers were all put apprentices to difTerent 
trades. I was put to the grammar-school at eight years 

* He was born January 6th, 1706, old style, being Sunday, and the 
same as January 17th, new style, which his biographers have usually 
mentioned as the day of his birth. By the records of the Old South 
Church in Boston, to which his father and mother belonged, it appears 
that he was baptized the same day. In the old public Register of Births, 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 7 

of age, my father intending to devote nne, as the tithe of 
his sons, to the service of the Church. My early readi- 
ness in learning to read (which must have been very early, 
as I do not remember when I could not read), and the 
opinion of all his friends, that I should certainly make a 
good scholar, encouraged him in this purpose of his. My 
uncle Benjamin, too, approved of it, and proposed to give 
me all his short-hand volumes of sermons, I suppose as a 
stock to set up with, if I would learn his character. I con- 
tinued, however, at the grammar-school not quite one 
year, though in that time I had risen gradually from the 
middle of the class of that year to be the head of it, and 
farther was removed into the next class above it, in order 
to go with that into the third at the end of the year. But 
my father, in the mean time, from a view of the expense 
of a college education, which having so large a family he 
could not well afford, and the mean living many so edu- 
cated were afterwards able to obtain — reasons that he gave 
to his friends in my hearing — altered his first intention, 
took me from the grammar-school, and sent me to a 
school for writing and arithmetic, kept by a then famous 
man, Mr. George Brownell, very successful in his profes- 
sion generally, and that by mild, encouraging methods. 
Under him I acquired fair writing pretty soon, but I 
failed in the arithmetic, and made no progress in it. At 
ten years old I was taken home to assist my father in his 
business, which was that of a tallow-chandler and sope- 
boiler ; a business he was not bred to, but had assumed 
on his arrival in New England, and on finding his dying 
trade would not maintain his family, being in little re- 
quest. Accordingly, I was employed in cutting wick for 

still preserved in the Mayor's office in Boston, his birth is recorded under 
the date of January 6th, 1706. At this time his father occupied a house 
in Milk street, opposite to the Old South Church, but he removed shortly 
afterwards to a house at the corner of Hanover and Union streets, where 
it is believed he resided the remainder of his life, and where the son 
passed his early years. — Jared Sparks, " Works of Benjamin Franklin," 
vol, i, p. 8. Boston, 1840. 



8 FRANKLIN 

the candles, filling the dipping mold and the molds for 
cast candles, attending the shop, going of errands, etc. 

I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination for 
the sea, but my father declared against it ; however, liv- 
ing near the water, I was much in and about it, learnt 
early to swim well, and to manage boats ; and when in a 
boat or canoe with other boys, I was commonly allowed 
to govern, especially in an)^ case of difficulty ; and upon 
other occasions I was generally a leader among the 
boys, and sometimes led them into scrapes, of which I 
will mention one instance, as it shows an early projecting 
public spirit, tho' not then justly conducted. 

There was a salt-marsh that bounded part of the mill- 
pond, on the edge of which, at high water, we used to 
stand to fish for minnows. Bv much trampling, we had 
made it a mere quagmire. My proposal was to build a 
wharff there "fit for us to stand upon, and I showed my 
comrades a large heap of stones, which were intended for 
a new house near the marsh, and which would very well 
suit our purpose. Accordingly, in the evening, when the 
workmen were gone, I assembled a number of my play- 
fellows, and working with them diligently like so many 
emmets, sometimes two or three to a stone, we brought 
them all away and built our little wharff. The next 
morning the workmen were surprised at missing the 
stones, which were found in our wharflf. Inquiry was 
made after the removers ; we were discovered and com- 
plained of; several of us were corrected by our fathers: 
and, though I pleaded the usefulness of the work, mine 
convinced me that nothing was useful which was not 
honest. 

I think you may like to know something of his person 
and character. He had an excellent constitution of body, 
was of middle stature, but well set, and very strong ; he 
was ingenious, could draw prettily, was skilled a little in 
music, and had a clear, pleasing voice, so that when he 
played psalm tunes on his violin and sung withal, as he 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 9 

sometimes did in an evening after the business of the day 
was over, it was extremely agreeable to hear. He had a 
mechanical genius too, and, on occasion, was very handy 
in the use of other tradesmen's tools ; but his great excel- 
lence lay in a sound understanding and solid judgment 
in prudential matters, both in private and publick affairs. 
In the latter, indeed, he was never employed, the numer- 
ous family he had to educate and the straitness of his cir- 
cumstances keeping him close to his trade ; but I remem- 
ber well his being frequently visited by leading people, 
who consulted him for his opinion in affairs of the town 
or of the church he belonged to, and showed a good deal 
of respect for his judgment and advice : he was also much 
consulted by private persons about their affairs when any 
difficulty occurred, and frequently chosen an arbitrator 
between contending parties. At his table he liked to 
have, as often as he could, some sensible friend or neigh, 
bor to converse with, and always took care to start some 
ingenious or useful topic for discourse, which might tend 
to improve the minds of his children. By this means he 
turned our attention to what was good, just, and prudent 
in the conduct of life ; and little or no notice was ever 
taken of what related to the victuals on the table, whether 
it was well or ill dressed, in or out of season, of good or 
bad flavor, preferable or inferior to this or that other 
thing of the kind, so that I was bro't up in such a perfect 
inattention to those matters as to be quite indifferent what 
kind of food was set before me, and so unobservant of it, 
that to this day if I am asked I can scarce tell a few hours 
after dinner what I dined upon. This has been a conveni- 
ence to me in travelling, where my companions have been 
sometimes very unhappy for want of a suitable gratifica- 
tion of their more delicate, because better instructed, 
tastes and appetites. 

My mother had likewise an excellent constitution : 
she suckled all her ten children. I never knew either 
my father or mother to have any sickness but that of 



lO FRANKLIN 

which they dy'd, he at 89, and she at 85 years of age. 
They lie buried together at Boston, where I some years 
since placed a marble over their grave, with this inscrip- 
tion : 

JosiAH Franklin, 

and 

Abiah his wife, 

lie here interred. 

Thoy lived lovingly together in wedlock 

fift)-five years. 

Without an estate, or any gainful employment, 

l^y constant labor and industry, 

with Ciod's blessing, 
They maintained a large family 

comfortably, 

and brought up thirteen children 

and seven grandchildren 

reputably. 

From this instance, reader. 

Be encouraged to diligence in thy calling, 

And distrust not Providence. 

He was a pious and prudent man ; 

She, a discreet and virtuous woman. 

Their youngest son. 

In filial regard to their memory, 

Places this stone. 

J. F. born 1655, died 1744, yEtat 89. 

A. F. born 1667, died 1752, 85. 

By my rambling digressions I perceive m3'self to be 
grown old. I us'd to write more methodically. But 
one docs not dress for private company as for a publick 
ball. 'Tis perhaps only negligence. 

To return : I continued thus employed in my father's 
business for two years — that is, till I was twelve years 
old : and my brother John, who was bred to that business, 
having left my father, married, and set up for himself at 
Rhode Island, there was all appearance that I was des- 
tined to supply his place, and become a tallow-chandler. 
But my dislike to the trade continuing, my father was 
under apprehensions that if he did not find one for me 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY II 

more agreeable, I should break away and get to sea, as 
his son Josiah had done, to his great vexation. He there- 
fore sometimes took me to walk with him, and see joiners, 
bricklayers, turners, braziers, etc., at their work, that he 
might observe my inclination, and endeavor to fix it on 
some trade or other on land. It has ever since been a 
pleasure to me to see good workmen handle their tools ; 
and it has been useful to me, having learnt so much by it 
as to be able to do little jobs myself in my house when a 
workman could not readily be got, and to construct little 
machines for my experiments, while the intention of mak- 
ing the experiment was fresh and warm in my mind. My 
father at last fixed upon the cutler's trade, and my uncle 
Benjamin's son Samuel, who was bred to that business in 
London, being about that time established in Boston, I 
was sent to be with him some time on liking. But his 
expectations of a fee with me displeasing my father, I was 
taken home again. 

From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little 
money that came into my hands was ever laid out in 
books. Pleased with the " Pilgrim's Progress," my first 
collection was of John Bunyan's works in separate little 
volumes. I afterward sold them to enable me to buy " R. 
Burton's Historical Collections " ; they were small chap- 
men's books, and cheap, forty or fifty in all. My father's 
little library consisted chiefly of books in polemic divin- 
ity, most of which I read, and have since often regretted 
that, at a time when I had such a thirst for knowledge, 
more proper books had not fallen in my way, since it wa,s 
now resolved I should not be a clergyman. " Plutarch's 
Lives" there was, in which I read abundantly, and I still 
think that time spent to great advantage. There was 
also a book of De Foe's, called an " Essay on Projects," 
and another of Dr. Mather's, called " Essays to do 
Good," which perhaps gave me a turn of thinking that 
had an influence on some of the principal future events 
of my life. 



12 



FRANKLIN 



This bookisli inclination at Icns^th determined my 
father to make nic a printer, though he had already one 
son (James) of that profession. In 17 17 my brother James 
returned from l^ngland with a press and letters to set up 
his business in Boston. I liked it much better than that 
of my father, but still had a hankering for the sea. To 
prevent the apprehended elTect of such an inclination, my 
lather was iiuj>atient to have me bound to my brother. I 
stood out some time, but at last was persuaded, and signed 
the indentures when 1 was yet but twelve years old. I 
was to serve as an apjuenticc till I was twenty-one years 
of age, only I was to be allowed journeyman's wages dur- 
ing the last year. In a little time I made great proficiency 
in the business, and became a useful hand to my brother. 
I now had access to better books. An acquaintance with 
the apprentices of booksellers enabled me sometimes to 
borrow a small one, which I was careful to return soon 
and clean. Often 1 sat up in my room reading the great- 
est part of the night, when the book was borrowed in the 
evening and to be returned early in the morning, lest it 
should be missed or wanted. 

And after some time an ingenious tradesman, Mr. 
Matthew Adams, who had a pretty collection of books, 
and who frequented our printing-house, took notice of 
me, invited me to his library, and very kindly lent me 
such books as I chose to read. I now took a fancy to 
poetry, anil mailc some little pieces; my brother, thinking 
it might turn to account, encouraged me, and put me on 
composing occasional ballads. One was called The Li^^ht- 
housc Tragt'dw and containetl at\ account of the drowning 
of Captain Worthilake. with his two daughters: the other 
was a sailor's song, on the taking of Tt'cich (or Blackbeard) 
the pirate. They were wretched stutT, in the Grub-street- 
ballad style; and when thev were printed he sent me 
about the town to sell them. The first sold wonderfully, 
the event being recent, having niaile a great noise. This 
flattered my vanity; but my father discouraged me by 



IRANKJJN AS A POlil'. 
Photogravure from a drawing made tor this work. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



13 



ridiculing my performances, and telling me verse-makers 
were generally beggars. So I escaped being a poet, most 
probably a very bad one ; but as prose writing has been of 
great use to me in the course of my life, and was a princi- 
pal means of my advancement, I shall tell you how, in such 
a situation, I acquired what little ability I have in that way. 

There was another bookish lad in the town, John 
Collins by name, with whom I was intimately acquainted. 
We sometimes disputed, and very fond we were of argu- 
ment, and very desirous of confuting one another, which 
disputatious turn, by the way, is apt to become a very bad 
habit, making people often extremely disagreeable in com- 
pany by the contradiction that is necessary to bring it 
into practice; and thence, besides souring and spoiling 
the conversation, is productive of disgusts and, perhaps 
enmities where you may have occasion for friendship. I 
had caught it by reading my father's books of dispute 
about religion. Persons of good sense, I have since ob- 
served, seldom fall into it, except lawyers, university men, 
and men of all sorts that have been bred at Edinborough. 

A question was once, somehow or other, started be- 
tween Collins and me, of the propriety of educating the 
female sex in learning, and their abilities for study. He 
was of opinion that it was improper, and that they were 
naturally unequal to it. I took the contrary side, perhaps 
a little for dispute's sake. He was naturally more elo- 
quent, had a ready plenty of words, and sometimes, as I 
thought, bore me down more by his fluency than by the 
strength of his reasons. As we parted without settling 
the point, and were not to see one another again for some 
time, I sat down to put my arguments in writing, which I 
copied fair and sent to him. He answered, and I replied. 
Three or four letters of a side had passed, when my father 
happened to find my papers and read them. Without en- 
tering into the discussion, he took occasion to talk to me 
about the manner of my writing ; observed that, though I 
had the advantage of my antagonist in correct spelling 



l6 FRANKLIN 

And now it was that, being on some occasion made 
asham'd of my ignorance in figures, which I had twice 
failed in learning when at school, I took Cocker's book 
of Arithraetick, and went through the whole by myself 
with great ease. I also read Seller's and Shermy's books 
of Navigation, and became acquainted with the little 
geometry they contain; but never proceeded far in that 
science. And I read about this time Locke " On Human 
Understanding," and the "Art of Thinking," by Messrs. du 
Port Royal. 

While I was intent on improving my language, I met 
with an English grammar (I think it was Greenwood's), 
at the end of which there were two little sketches of the 
arts of rhetoric and logic, the latter finishing with a speci- 
men of a dispute in the Socratic method ; and soon after 
1 procur'd Xenophon's " Memorable Things of Socrates," 
wherein there are many instances of the same method. 
I was charm'd with it, adopted it, dropt my abrupt con- 
tradiction and positive argumentation, and put on the 
humble inquirer and doubter. And being then, from 
reading Shaftesbury and Collins, become a real doubter 
in many points of our religious doctrine, I found this 
method safest for myself and very embarassing to those 
against whom I used it ; therefore I took a delight in it, 
practis'd it continually, and grew very artful and expert 
in drawing people, even of superior knowledge, into con- 
cessions, the consequences of which they did not foresee, 
entangling them in difficulties out of which they could 
not extricate themselves, and so obtaining victories that 
neither myself nor my cause always deserved. I con- 
tinu'd this method some few years, but gradually left it, 
retaining only the habit of expressing mj^self in terms of 
modest diffidence; never using, when I advanced any 
thing that may possibly be disputed, the words certainly, 
undoubtedly, or any others that give the air of positiveness 
to an opinion ; but rather say, I conceive or apprehend a 
thing to be sp and so; it appears to me, or / should tJiink 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



17 



it so or so, for such and such reasons ; or / imagine it to be 
so ; or it is so, if I am not mistaken. This habit, I believe, 
has been of great advantage to me when I have had occa- 
sion to inculcate my opinions, and persuade men into 
measures that I have been from time to time engag'd in 
promoting ; and, as the chief ends of conversation are to 
ifiform or to be informed, to please or to persuade, I wish 
well-meaning, sensible men would not lessen their power 
of doing good by a positive, assuming manner, that 
seldom fails to disgust, tends to create opposition, and 
to defeat every one of those purposes for which speech 
was given to us, to wit, giving or receiving information 
or pleasure. For, if you would inform, a positive and 
dogmatical manner in advancing your sentiments may 
provoke contradiction and prevent a candid attention. 
If you wish information and improvement from the 
knowledge of others, and yet at the same time express 
yourself as firmly fix'd in your present opinions, modest, 
sensible men, who do not love disputation, will probably 
leave you undisturbed in the possession of your error. 
And by such a manner, you can seldom hope to recom- 
mend yourself in pleasing your hearers, or to persuade 
those whose concurrence you desire. Pope says, ju- 
diciously : 

" Men should be taught as zf you taught them not. 
And things unknown proposed as things forgot ; " 

farther recommending to us 

" To speak, tho' sure, with seeming diffidence." 

And he might have coupled with this line that which he 
has coupled with another, I think, less properly, 

" For want of modesty is want of sense," 

If you ask, Why less properly? I must repeat the lines, 

" Immodest words admit of no defense, 
For want of modesty is want of sense." '*~ 



l8 FRANKLIN 

Now, is not %va7it of sense (where a man is so unfortunate' 
as to want it) some apology for his tvant of modesty ? and 
would not the lines stand more justly thus? 

" Immodest words admit bttt this defense, 
That want of modesty is want of sense." 

This, however, I should submit to better judgments. 

My brother had, in 1720 or 1721, begun to print a 
newspaper. It was the second that appeared in America, 
and was called the " New England Courant." The only 
one before it was the " Boston News-Letter." I remem- 
ber his being dissuaded by some of his friends from the 
undertaking, as not likely to succeed, one newspaper be- 
ing, in their judgment, enough for America. At this 
time (1771) there are not less than five-and-twenty. He 
went on, however, with the undertaking, and after having 
worked in composing the types and printing off the 
sheets, I was employed to carry the papers thro* the 
streets to the customers. 

He had some ingenious men among his friends, who 
amus'd themselves by writing little pieces for this paper, 
which gain'd it credit and made it more in demand, and 
these gentlemen often visited us. Hearing their conver- 
sations, and their accounts of the approbation their papers 
were received with, I was excited to try my hand among 
them ; but, being still a boy, and suspecting that my 
brother would object to printing anything of mine in his 
paper if he knew it to be mine, I contrived to disguise 
my hand, and, writing an anonymous paper, I put it in at 
night under the door of the printing-house. It was found 
in the morning, and communicated to his writing friends 
when they call'd in as usual. They read it, commented 
on it in my hearing, and I had the exquisite pleasure of 
finding it met with their approbation, and that, in their 
different guesses at the author, none were named but men 
of some character among us for learning and ingenuity. 
I suppose now that I was rather lucky in my judges, and 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



19 



that perhaps they were not really so very good ones as I 
then esteem'd them. 

Encourag'd, however by this, I wrote and convey'd in 
the same way to the press several more papers which 
were equally approv'd ; and I kept my secret till my 
small fund of sense for such performances was pretty 
well exhausted, and then I discovered it, when I began to 
be considered a little more by my brother's acquaint- 
ance, and in a manner that did not quite please him, as 
he thought, probably with reason, that it tended to 
make me too vain. And, perhaps, this might be one 
occasion of the differences that we began to have about 
this time. Though a brother, he considered himself as 
my master, and me as his apprentice, and, accordingly, 
expected the same services from me as he would from an- 
other, while I thought he demean'd me too much in some 
he requir'd of me, who from a brother expected more 
indulgence. Our disputes were often brought before our 
father, and I fancy I was either generally in the right, 
or else a better pleader, because the judgment was gen- 
erally in my favor. But my brother was passionate, 
and had often beaten me, which I took extreamly 
amiss ; and, thinking my apprenticeship very tedious, 
I was continually wishing for some opportunity of short- 
ening it, which at length offered in a manner unex- 
pected.' 

One of the pieces in our newspaper on some political 
point, which I have now forgotten, gave offense to the 
Assembly. He was taken up, censur'd, and imprison'd 
for a month, by the speaker's warrant, I suppose, because 
he would not discover his author. I too was taken up 
and examin'd before the council ; but, tho' I did not give 
them any satisfaction, they content'd themselves with ad- 
monishing me, and dismissed me, considering me, per- 

' I fancy his harsh and tyrannical treatment of me might be a means 
of impressing me with that aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck to 
me through my whole life. " 



l8 FRANKLIN 

Now, is not zvant of sense (where a man is so unfortunate' 
as to want it) some apology for his zvant of modesty f and 
would not the lines stand more justly thus? 

" Immodest words admit btct this defense, 
That want of modesty is want of sense." 

This, however, I should submit to better judgments. 

My brother had, in 1720 or 1721, begun to print a 
newspaper. It was the second that appeared in America, 
and was called the ** New England Courant." The only 
one before it was the " Boston News-Letter." I remem- 
ber his being dissuaded by some of his friends from the 
undertaking, as not likely to succeed, one newspaper be- 
ing, in their judgment, enough for America. At this 
time (1771) there are not less than five-and-twenty. He 
went on, however, with the undertaking, and after having 
worked in composing the types and printing off the 
sheets, I was employed to carry the papers thro' the 
streets to the customers. 

He had some ingenious men among his friends, who 
amus'd themselves by writing little pieces for this paper, 
which gain'd it credit and made it more in demand, and 
these gentlemen often visited us. Hearing their conver- 
sations, and their accounts of the approbation their papers 
were received with, I was excited to try my hand among 
them ; but, being still a boy, and suspecting that my 
brother would object to printing anything of mine in his 
paper if he knew it to be mine, I contrived to disguise 
my hand, and, writing an anonymous paper, I put it in at 
night under the door of the printing-house. Ic was found 
in the morning, and communicated to his writing friends 
when they call'd in as usual. They read it, commented 
on it in my hearing, and I had the exquisite pleasure of 
finding it met with their approbation, and that, in their 
different guesses at the author, none were named but men 
of some character among us for learning and ingenuity. 
I suppose now that I was rather lucky in my judges, and 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY I9 

that perhaps they were not really so very good ones as I 
then esteem'd them. 

Encourag'd, however by this, I wrote and convey 'd in 
the same way to the press several more papers which 
were equally approv'd ; and I kept my secret till my 
small fund of sense for such performances was pretty 
well exhausted, and then I discovered it, when I began to 
be considered a little more by my brother's acquaint- 
ance, and in a manner that did not quite please him, as 
he thought, probably with reason, that it tended to 
make me too vain. And, perhaps, this might be one 
occasion of the differences that we began to have about 
this time. Though a brother, he considered himself as 
my master, and me as his apprentice, and, accordingly, 
expected the same services from me as he would from an- 
other, while I thought he demean'd me too much in some 
he requir'd of me, who from a brother expected more 
indulgence. Our disputes were often brought before our 
father, and I fancy I was either generally in the right, 
or else a better pleader, because the judgment was gen- 
erally in my favor. But my brother was passionate, 
and had often beaten me, which I took extreamly 
amiss ; and, thinking my apprenticeship very tedious, 
I was continually wishing for some opportunity of short- 
ening it, which at length offered in a manner unex- 
pected.' 

One of the pieces in our newspaper on some political 
point, which I have now forgotten, gave offense to the 
Assembly. He was taken up, censur'd, and imprison'd 
for a month, by the speaker's warrant, I suppose, because 
he would not discover his author. I too was taken up 
and examin'd before the council ; but, tho' I did not give 
them any satisfaction, they content'd themselves with ad- 
monishing me, and dismissed me, considering me, per- 

' I fancy his harsh and tyrannical treatment of me might be a means 
of impressing me with that aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck to 
me through my whole life. ' 



20 FRANKLIN 

haps, as an apprentice, who was bound to keep his mas- 
ter's secrets. 

During my brother's confinement, which I resented a 
p^ood deal, notwithstanding our private diflerences, I had 
the management of the paper ; and I made bold to give our 
rulers some rubs in it which my brother took very kindly, 
while others began to consider me in an unfavorable light, 
as a young genius that had a turn for libelling and satyr. 
My brother's discharge was accompany'd with an order 
of the House (a very odd one), that ''James Franklin should 
no longer print tJtc paper called the ' Nezv England Conrant.' " 

There was a consultation held in our printing-house 
among his friends, what he should do in this case. Some 
proposed to evade the order by changing the name of the 
paper ; but my brother, seeing inconveniences in that, it 
was finally concluded on as a better wa}^ to let it be 
printed for the future under the name of Benjamin 
Franklin ; and to avoid the censure of the Assembly, 
that might fall on him as still printing it by his appren- 
tice, the contrivance was that my old indenture should be 
return'd to me, with a full discharge on the back of it, to 
be shown on occasion, but to secure to him the benefit of 
my service, I was to sign new indentures for the remain- 
der of the term, which were to be kept private. A very 
flimsy scheme it was ; however, it was immediately exe- 
cuted, and the paper went on accordingly, under my 
name for several months. 

At length, a fresh difference arising between my 
brother and me, I took upon me to assert mv freedom, 
presuming that he would not venture to produce the new 
indentures. It was not fair in me to take this advantage, 
and this I therefore reckon one of the first errata of my 
life ; but the unfairness of it weighed little with me, when 
under the impressions of resentment for the blows his 
passion too often urged him to bestow upon me, though 
he was otherwise not an ill-natur'd man : perhaps I was 
too sauc}' and provoking. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 21 

When he found I would leave him, he took care to 
prevent my getting employment in any other printing- 
house of the town, by going round and speaking to every 
master, who accordingly refus'd to give me work. I 
then thought of going to New York, as the nearest place 
where there was a printer ; and I was rather inclin'd to 
leave Boston when I reflected that I had already made 
myself a little obnoxious to the governing party, and, 
from the arbitrary proceedings of the Assembly in my 
brother's case, it was likely I might, if I stay'd, soon bring 
myself into scrapes ; and farther, that my indiscrete dis- 
putations about religion began to make me pointed at 
with horror by good people as an infidel or atheist. I 
determin'd on the point, but my father now siding with 
my brother, I was sensible that, if I attempted to go 
openly, means would be used to prevent me. My friend 
Collins, therefore, undertook to manage a little for me. 
He agreed with the captain of a New York sloop for my 
passage, under the notion of my being a young acquaint- 
ance of -his, that had got a naughty girl with child, whose 
friends would compel me to marry her, and therefore I 
could not appear or come away publicly. So I sold 
some of my books to raise a little money, was taken on 
board privately, and as we had a fair wind, in three days 
I found myself in New York, near 300 miles from home, a 
boy of but 17, without the least recommendation to, or 
knowledge of any person in the place, and with very little 
money in my pocket. 

My inclinations for the sea were by this time worne 
out, or I might now have gratify 'd them. But, having a 
trade, and supposing myself a pretty good workman, I 
offer'd my service to the printer in the place, old Mr. 
William Bradford, who had been the first printer in 
Pennsylvania, but removed from thence upon the quarrel 
of George Keith. He could give me no employment, 
having little to do, and help enough already ; but says he, 
" My son at Philadelphia has lately lost his principal hand, 



22 FRANKLIN 

Aquila Rose, by death ; if you go thither, I believe he 
may employ you." Philadelphia was a hundred miles 
further ; I set out, however, in a boat for Amboy, leaving 
my chest and things to follow me round by sea. 

In crossing the bay, we met with a squall that tore 
our rotten sails to pieces, prevented our getting into 
the Kill, and drove us upon Long Island. In our way, a 
drunken Dutchman, who was a passenger too, fell over- 
board ; when he was sinking, I reached through the water 
to his shock pate, and drew him up, so that we got him 
in again. His ducking sobered him a little, and he went 
to sleep, taking first out of his pocket a book, which he 
desir'd I would dry for him. It proved to be my old 
favorite author, Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," in Dutch, 
finely printed on good paper, with copper cuts, a dress 
better than I had ever seen it wear in its own language. 
I have since found that it has been translated into most of 
the languages of Europe, and suppose it has been more 
generally read than any other book, except perhaps the 
Bible. Honest John was the first that I know of who 
mix'd narration and dialogue ; a method of writing very 
engaging to the reader, who in the most interesting parts 
finds himself, as it were, brought into the company and 
present at the discourse. De Foe in his " Cruso," his 
" Moll Flanders," " Religious Courtship," " Family In- 
structor," and other pieces, has imitated it with success ; 
and Richardson has done the same in his " Pamela," etc. 

When we drew near the island, we found it was at a 
place where there could be no landing, there being a great 
surff on the stony beach. So we dropt anchor, and swung 
round towards the shore. Some people came down to 
the water edge and hallow'd to us, as we did to them ; 
but the wind was so high, and the surff so loud, that we 
could not hear so as to understand each other. There 
were canoes on the shore, and we made signs, and hal- 
low'd that they should fetch us ; but they either did not 
understand us, or thought it impracticable, so they went 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



23 



away, and night coming- on, we had no remedy but to 
wait till the wind should abate: and, in the mean time, 
the boatman and I concluded to sleep, if we could ; and 
so crowded into the scuttle, with the Dutchman, who was 
still wet, and the spray beating over the head of our boat, 
leak'd thro' to us, so that we were soon almost as wet as 
he. In this manner we lay all night, with very little rest; 
but, the wind abating the next day, we made a shift to 
reach Amboy before night, having been thirty hours on 
the water, without victuals, or any drink but a bottle of 
filthy rum, the water we sail'd on being salt. 

In the evening I found myself very feverish, and went 
in to bed ; but, having read somewhere that cold water 
drank plentifully was good for a fever, I follow'd the pre- 
scription, sweat plentifully most of the night, my fever 
left me, and in the morning, crossing the ferry, I pro- 
ceeded on my journey on foot, having fifty miles to Bur- 
lington, where I was told I should find boats that would 
carry me the rest of the way to Philadelphia. 

It rained very hard all the day; I was thoroughly 
soak'd, and by noon a good deal tired; so I stopt at a 
poor inn, where I staid all night, beginning now to wish 
that I had never left home. I cut so miserable a figure, 
too, that I found, by the questions ask'd me, I was sus- 
pected to be some runaway servant, and in danger of be- 
ing taken up on that suspicion. However, I proceeded 
the next day, and got in the evening to an inn, within 
eight or ten miles of Burlington, kept by one Dr. Brown. 
He entered into conversation with me while I took some 
refreshment, and, finding I had read a little, became very 
sociable and friendly. Our acquaintance continu'd as long 
as he liv'd. He had been, I imagine, an itinerant doctor, 
for there was no town in England, or countr}'' in Europe, 
of which he could not give a very particular account. 
He had some letters, and was ingenious, but much of an 
unbeliever, and wickedly undertook, some years after, to 
travestie the Bible in doggrel verse, as Cotton had done 



24 FRANKLIN 

Virgil. By this means he set many of the facts in a very 
ridiculous light, and might have hurt weak minds if his 
work had been published ; but it never was. 

At his house I lay that night, and the next morning 
reach'd Burlington, but had the mortification to find that 
the regular boats were gone a little before my coming, 
and no other expected to go before Tuesday, this being 
Saturday ; wherefore I returned to an old woman in the 
town, of whom I had bought gingerbread to eat on the 
water, and ask'd her advice. She invited me to lodge at 
her house till a passage by water should offer ; and being 
tired with my foot travelling, I accepted the invitation. 
She understanding I was a printer, would have had me 
stay at that town and follow my business, being ignorant 
of the stock necessary to begin with. She was very hos- 
pitable, gave me a dinner of ox-cheek with great good 
will, accepting only of a pot of ale in return; and I 
thought myself fixed till Tuesday should come. How- 
ever, walking in the evening by the side of the river, a 
boat came by, which I found was going towards Phila- 
delphia, with several people in her. They took me in, 
and, as there was no wind, we row'd all the way ; and 
about midnight, not having yet seen the city, some of the 
company were confident we must have passed it, and 
would row no farther; the others knew not where we 
were ; so we put toward the shore, got into a creek, 
landed near an old fence, with the rails of which we 
made a fire, the night being cold, id October, and there 
we remained till daylight. Then one of the company 
knew the place to be Cooper's Creek, a little above Phila- 
delphia, which we saw as soon as we got out of the creek, 
and arriv'd there about eight or nine o'clock on the Sun- 
day morning, and landed at the Market-street wharf. 

I have been the more particular in this description of 
my journey, and shall be so of my first entry into that 
city, that you may in your mind compare such unlikely 
beginnings with the figure I have since made there. I 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



25 



was in my working dress, my best cloaths being- to come 
round by sea. I was dirty from my journey ; my pockets 
were stuff'd out with shirts and stockings, and I knew 
no soul nor where to look for lodging. I was fatigued 
with travelling, rowing and want of rest, I was very 
hungry ; and my whole stock of cash consisted of a 
Dutch dollar, and about a shilling in copper. The latter 
I gave the people of the boat for my passage, who at 
first refus'd it, on account of my rowing; but I insisted 
on their taking it. A man being sometimes more gen- 
erous when he has but a little money than when he has 
plenty, perhaps thro' fear of being thought to have but 
little. 

Then I walked up the street, gazing about till near 
the market-house I met a boy with bread. I had made 
many a meal on bread, and, inquiring where he got it, I 
went immediately to the baker's he directed me to, in 
Second-street, and ask'd for bisket, intending such as we 
had in Boston ; but they, it seems, were not made in 
Philadelphia. Then I asked for a three-penny loaf, and 
was told they had none such. So not considering or 
knowing the difference of money, and the greater cheap- 
ness nor the names of his bread, I bad him give me three- 
penny worth of any sort. He gave me, accordingly, 
three great puffy rolls. I was surpriz'd at the quantity, 
but took it, and, having no room in my pockets, walk'd 
off with a roll under each arm, and eating the other. 
Thus I went up Market-street as far as Fourth-street, 
passing by the door of Mr. Read, my future wife's father ; 
when she, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I 
made, as I certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous 
appearance. Then I turned and went down Chesnut- 
street and part of Walnut-street, eating my roll all the 
way, and, coming round, found myself again at Market- 
street wharf, near the boat I came in, to which I went for 
a draught of the river water ; and, being filled with one 
of my rolls, gave the other two to a woman and her child 



26 FRANKLIN 

that came down the river in the boat with us, and were 
waiting to go farther. 

Thus refreshed, I walked again up the street, which 
by this time had many clean-dressed people in it, who 
were all walking the same way. I joined them, and 
thereby was led into the great meeting-house of the 
Quakers near the market. I sat down among them, and, 
after looking round awhile and hearing nothing said, 
being very drowsy thro' labor and want of rest the 
preceding night, I fell fast asleep, and continu'd so till 
the meeting broke up, when one was kind enough to 
rouse me. This was, therefore, the first house I was in, 
or slept in, in Philadelphia. 

Walking down again toward the river, and, looking in 
the faces of people, I met a young Quaker man, whose 
countenance I lik'd, and, accosting him, requested he 
would tell me where a stranger could get lodging. We 
were then near the sign of the Three Mariners. " Here," 
says he, " is one place that entertains strangers, but it is 
not a reputable house ; if thee wilt walk with me, I'll 
show thee a better." He brought me to the Crooked 
Billet in Water-street. Here I got a dinner ; and, while 
I was eating it, several sly questions were asked me, as 
it seemed to be suspected from my youth and appear- 
ance, that I might be some runaway. 

After dinner, my sleepiness return'd, and being shown 
to a bed, I lay down without undressing, and slept till 
six in the evening, was call'd to supper, went to bed 
again very early, and slept soundly till next morning. 
Then I made myself as tidy as I could, and went to 
Andrew Bradford the printer's. I found in the shop the 
old man his father, whom I had seen at New York, and 
who, travelling on horseback, had got to Philadelphia 
before me. He introduc'd me to his son, who receiv'd 
me civilly, gave me a breakfast, but told me he did not 
at present want a hand, being lately suppli'd with one ; 
but there was another printer in town, lately set up, one 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



27 



Keimer, who, perhaps, might employ me ; if not, I should 
be welcome to lodge at his house, and he would give me 
a little work to do now and then till fuller business should 
offer. 

The old gentleman said he would go with me to the 
new printer; and when we found him, "Neighbor," says 
Bradford, " I have brought to see you a young man of 
your business; perhaps you may want such a one." He 
ask'd me a few questions, put a composing stick in my 
hand to see how I work'd, and then said he would em- 
ploy me soon, though he had just then nothing for me to 
do ; and, taking old Bradford, whom he had never seen 
before, to be one of the town's people that had a good 
will for him, enter'd into a conversation on his present 
undertaking and prospects ; while Bradford, not discover- 
ing that he was the other printer's father, on Keimer's 
saying he expected soon to get the greatest part of the 
business into his own hands, drew him on by artful ques- 
tions, and starting little doubts, to explain all his views, 
what interest he reli'd on, and in what manner he in- 
tended to proceed. I, who stood by and heard all, saw 
immediately that one of them was a crafty old sophister, 
and the other a mere novice. Bradford left me with 
Keimer, who was greatly surpris'd when I told him who 
the old man was. 

Keimer's printing-house, I found, consisted of an old 
shatter'd press, and one small, worn-out font of English, 
which he was then using himself, composing an Elegy on 
Aquila Rose, before mentioned, an ingenious young man, 
of excellent character, much respected in the town, clerk 
of the Assembly, and a pretty poet. Keimer made verses 
too, but very indifferently. He could not be said to write 
them, for his manner was to compose them in the types 
directly out of his head. So there being no copy, but one 
pair of cases, and the Elegy likely to require aj^. the letter, 
no one could help him. I endeavor'd to put his press 
(which he had not yet us'd, and of which he understood 



28 FRANKLIN 

nothing) into order fit to be work'd with ; and, promising 
to come and print off his Elegy as soon as he should have 
got it ready, I return'd to Bradford's, who gave me a lit- 
tle job to do for the present, and there I lodged and dieted. 
A few days after, Keimer sent for me to print off the 
Elegy. And now he had got another pair of cases, and 
a pamphlet to reprint, on which he set me to work. 

These two printers I found poorly qualified for their 
business. Bradford had not been bred to it, and was very 
illiterate ; and Keimer, tho' something of a scholar, was a 
mere compositor, knowing nothing of presswork. He had 
been one of the French prophets, and could act their en- 
thusiastic agitations. At this time he did not profess any 
particular religion, but something of all on occasion ; was 
very ignorant of the world, and had, as I afterward found, 
a good deal of the knave in his composition. He did not 
like my lodging at Bradford's while I work'd with him. 
He had a house, indeed, but without furniture, so he could 
not lodge me ; but he got me a lodging at Mr. Read's, be- 
fore mentioned, who was the owner of his house ; and, my 
chest and clothes being come by this time, I made rather 
a more respectable appearance in the eyes of Miss Read 
than I had done when she first happen'd to see me eating 
my roll in the street. 

I began now to have some acquaintance among the 
young people of the town that were lovers of reading, 
with whom I spent my evenings very pleasantly ; and 
gaining money by my industry and frugality, I lived very 
agreeably, forgetting Boston as much as I could, and not 
desiring that any there should know where I resided, ex- 
cept my friend Collins, who was in my secret, and kept it 
when I wrote to him. At length, an incident happened 
that sent me back again much sooner than I had intended. 
I had a brother-in-law, Robert Holmes, master of a sloop 
that traded between Boston and Delaware. He being at 
Newcastle, forty miles below Philadelphia, heard there of 
me, and wrote me a letter mentioning the concern of my 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



29 



friends in Boston at my abrupt departure, assuring me of 
their good will to me, and that everything would be ac- 
commodated to my mind if I would return, to which he 
exhorted me very earnestly. I wrote an answer to his let- 
ter, thank'd him for his advice, but stated my reasons for 
quitting Boston fully and in such a light as to convince 
him I was not so wrong as he had apprehended. 

Sir William Keith, governor of the province, was then 
at Newcastle, and Captain Holmes, happening to be in 
company with him when my letter came to hand, spoke 
to him of me, and show'd him the letter. The governor 
read it, and seem'd surpris'd when he was told my age. 
He said I appear'd a young man of promising parts, and 
therefore should be encouraged ; the printers at Philadel- 
phia were wretched ones ; and, if I would set up there, he 
made no doubt I should succeed ; for his part, he would 
procure me the public business, and do me every other 
service in his power. This my brother-in-law afterwards 
told me in Boston, but I knew as yet nothing of it ; when, 
one day, Keimer and I being at work together near the 
window, we saw the governor and another gentleman 
(which proved to be Colonel French, of Newcastle), finely 
dress'd, come directly across the street to our house, and 
heard them at the door. 

Keimer ran down immediately, thinking it a visit to 
him ; but the governor inquir'd for me, came up, and with 
a condescension and politeness I had been quite unus'd to, 
made me many compliments, desired to be acquainted 
with me, blam'd me kindly for not having made myself 
known to him when I first came to the place, and would 
have me away with him to the tavern, where he was go- 
ing with Colonel French to taste, as he said, some excel- 
lent Madeira. I was not a little surprised, and Keimer 
star'd like a pig poison'd. I went, however, with the gov- 
ernor and Colonel French to a tavern, at the corner of 
Third-street, and over the Madeira he propos'd my set- 
ting up my business, laid before me the probabilities of 



30 



FRANKLIN 



success, and both he and Colonel French assur'd me I 
should have their interest and influence in procuring- the 
public business of both governments. On my doubting 
whether my father would assist me in it, Sir William said 
he would give me a letter to him, in which he would state 
the advantages, and he did not doubt of prevailing with 
him. So it was concluded I should return to Boston in 
the first vessel, with the governor's letter recommend- 
ing me to my father. In the mean time the intention 
was to be kept a secret, and I went on working with 
Keimer as usual, the governor sending for me now and 
then to dine with him, a very great honor I thought it, 
and conversing with me in the most affable, familiar, and 
friendly manner imaginable. 

About the end of April, 1724, a little vessel offer'd for 
Boston. I took leave of Keimer as going to see my 
friends. The governor gave me an ample letter, saying 
many flattering things of me to my father, and strongly 
recommending the project of my setting up at Philadel- 
phia as a thing that must make my fortune. We struck 
on a shoal in going down the bay, and sprung a leak ; we 
had a blustering time at sea, and were oblig'd to pump 
almost continually, at which I took my turn. We arriv'd 
safe, however, at Boston in about a fortnight. I had been 
absent seven months, and my friends had heard nothing 
of me ; for my br. Holmes was not yet return'd, and had 
not written about me. My unexpected appearance sur- 
priz'd the family ; all were, however, very glad to see 
me, and made me welcome, except my brother. I went 
to see him at his printing-house. I was better dress'd 
than ever while in his service, having a genteel new suit 
from head to foot, a watch, and my pockets lin'd with 
near five pounds sterling in silver. He receiv'd me not 
very frankly, look'd me all over, and turn'd to his work 
again. 

The journeymen were inquisitive where I had been, 
what sort of a country it was, and how I lik'd it. I 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



31 



prais'd it much, and the happy life I led in it, expressing 
strongly my intention of returning to it ; and, one of 
them asking what kind of money we had there, I pro- 
duc'd a handful of silver, and spread it before them, 
which was a kind of raree-show they had not been us'd 
to, paper being the money of Boston. Then I took an 
opportunity of letting them see my watch ; and, lastly 
(my brother still grum and sullen), I gave them a piece 
of eight to drink, and took my leave. This visit of mine 
offended him extreamly ; for, when my mother some time 
after spoke to him of a reconciliation, and of her wishes 
to see us on good terms together, and that we might 
live for the future as brothers, he said I had insulted 
him in such a manner before his people that he could 
never forget or forgive it. In this, however, he was mis- 
taken. 

My father received the governor's letter with some 
apparent surprise, but said little of it to me for some 
days, when Capt. Holmes returning he show'd it to him, 
ask'd him if he knew Keith, and what kind of man he 
was; adding his opinion that he must be of small discre- 
tion to think of setting a boy up in business who wanted 
yet three years of being at man's estate. Holmes said 
what he could in favor of the project, but my father was 
clear in the impropriety of it, and at last gave a flat 
denial to it. Then he wrote a civil letter to Sir William, 
thanking him for the patronage he had so kindly offered 
me, but declining to assist me as yet in setting up, I 
being, in his opinion, too young to be trusted with the 
management of a business so important, and for which 
the preparation must be so expensive. 

My friend and companion Collins, who was a clerk in 
the post-office, pleas'd with the account I gave him of my 
new country, determined to go thither also ; and, while I 
waited for my father's determination, he set out before 
me by land to Rhode Island, leaving his books, which 
were a pretty collection of mathematicks and natural 



32 FRANKLIN 

philosophy, to come with mine and me to New York, 
where he propos'd to wait for me. 

My father, tho' he did not approve Sir William's 
proposition, was yet pleas'd that I had been able to 
obtain so advantageous a character from a person of 
such note where I had resided, and that I had been so 
industrious and careful as to equip myself so handsomely 
in so short a time ; therefore, seeing no prospect of an 
accommodation between my brother and me, he gave 
his consent to my returning again to Philadelphia, ad- 
vis'd me to behave respectfully to the people there, 
endeavor to obtain the general esteem, and avoid lam- 
pooning and libeling, to which he thought I had too 
much inclination ; telling me, that by steady industry 
and a prudent parsimony I might save enough by the 
time I was one-and-twenty to set me up ; and that, if I 
came near the matter, he would help me out with the 
rest. This was all I could obtain, except some small 
gifts as tokens of his and my mother's love, when I 
embark'd again for New York, now with their approba- 
tion and their blessing. 

The sloop putting in at Newport, Rhode Island, I 
visited my brother John, who had been married and set- 
tled there some years. He received me very affection- 
ately, for he always lov'd me. A friend of his, one Ver- 
non, having some money due to him in Pensilvania, about 
thirty-five pounds currency, desired I would receive it 
for him, and keep it till I had his directions what to remit 
it in. Accordingly, he gave me an order. This after- 
wards occasion'd me a good deal of uneasiness. 

At Newport we took in a number of passengers for 
New York, among which were two young women, com- 
panions, and a grave, sensible, matronlike Quaker woman, 
with her attendants. I had shown an obliging readiness 
to do her some little services, which impress'd her I sup- 
pose with a degree of good will toward me ; therefore, 
when she saw a daily growing familiarity between me 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 33 

and the two young women, which they appear'd to en- 
courage, she took me aside, and said, " Young man, I am 
concern'd for thee, as thou has no friend with thee, and 
seems not to know much of the world, or of the snares 
youth is expos'd to ; depend upon it, those are very bad 
women ; I can see it in all their actions ; and if thee art 
not upon thy guard, they will draw thee into some danger ; 
they are strangers to thee, and I advise thee, in a friendly 
concern for thy welfare, to have no acquaintance with 
them." As I seem'd at first not to think so ill of them as 
she did, she mentioned some things she had observ'd and 
heard that had escap'd my notice, but now convinc'd me 
she was right. I thank'd her for her kind advice, and 
promis'd to follow it. When we arriv'd at New York, 
they told me where they liv'd, and invited me to come 
and see them ; but I avoided it, and it was well I did ; 
for the next day the captain miss'd a silver spoon and 
some other things, that had been taken out of his cabbin, 
and, knowing that these were a couple of strumpets, he 
got a warrant to search their lodgings, found the stolen 
goods, and had the thieves punish'd. So, tho' we had 
escap'd a sunken rock, which we scrap'd upon in the 
passage, I thought this escape of rather more importance 
to me. 

At New York I found my friend Collins, who had 
arriv'd there some time before me. We had been intimate 
from children, and had read the same books together ; 
but he had the advantage of more time for reading and 
studying, and a wonderful genius for mathematical learn- 
ing, in which he far outstript me. While I liv'd in Bos- 
ton, most of my hours of leisure for conversation were 
spent with him, and he continu'd a sober as well as an 
industrious lad ; was much respected for his learning by 
several of the clergy and other gentlemen, and seemed to 
promise making a good figure in life. But, during my 
absence, he had acquir'd a habit of sotting with brandy ; 
and I found by his own account, and what I heard from 



34 



FRANKLIN 



others, that he had been drunk every day since his arri- 
val at New York, and behav'd very oddly. He had 
gam'd, too, and lost his money, so that I was oblig'd to 
discharge his lodgings, and defray his expenses to and at 
Philadelphia, which prov'd extremely inconvenient to me. 

The then governor of New York, Burnet (son of 
Bishop Burnet), hearing from the captain that a young 
man, one of his passengers, had a great many books, de- 
sir'd he would bring me to see him. I waited upon him 
accordingly, and should have taken Collins with me but 
that he was not sober. The gov'r. treated me with great 
civility, show'd me his library, which was a very large 
one, and we had a good deal of conversation about books 
and authors. This was the second governor who had 
done me the honor to take notice of me ; which, to a 
poor boy like me, was very pleasing. 

We proceeded to Philadelphia. I received on the 
way Vernon's money, without which we could hardly 
have finish'd our journey. Collins wished to be employ'd 
in some counting-house ; but, whether they discover'd his 
dramming by his breath, or by his behaviour, tho' he had 
some recommendations, he met with no success in any 
application, and continu'd lodging and boarding at the 
same house with me, and at my expense. Knowing I had 
that money of Vernon's, he was continually borrowing of 
me, still promising repayment as soon as he should be in 
business. At length he had got so much of it that I was 
distress'd to think what I should do in case of being call'd 
on to remit it. 

His drinking continu'd, about which we sometimes 
quarrel'd ; for, when a little intoxicated, he was very 
fractious. Once, in a boat on the Delaware with some 
other young men, he refused to row in his turn. " I will 
be row'd home," says he. " We will not row you," says 
I. "You must, or stay all night on the water," says 
he, "just as you please." The others said, " Let us row ; 
what signifies it ? " But, my mind being soured with his 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



35 



other conduct, I continu'd to refuse. So he swore he 
would make me row, or throw me overboard ; and com- 
ing along-, stepping on the thwarts, toward me, when he 
came up and struck at me, I clapped my hand under his 
crutch, and, rising, pitched him head-foremost into the 
river. I knew he was a good swimmer, and so was under 
little concern about him ; but before he could get round 
to lay hold of the boat, we had with a few strokes puU'd 
her out of his reach ; and ever when he drew near the 
boat, we ask'd if he would row, striking a few strokes to 
slide her away from him. He was ready to die with vexa- 
tion, and obstinately would not promise to row. How- 
ever, seeing him at last beginning to tire, we lifted him 
in and brought him home dripping wet in the evening. 
We hardly exchang'd a civil word afterwards, and a 
West India captain, who had a commission to procure a 
tutor for the sons of a gentleman at Barbadoes, happen- 
ing to meet with him, agreed to carry him thither. He 
left me then, promising to remit me the first money he 
should receive in order to discharge the debt ; but I never 
heard of him after. 

The breaking into this money of Vernon's was one of 
the first great errata of my life ; and this affair show'd 
that my father was not much out in his judgment when 
he suppos'd me too young to manage business of impor- 
tance. But Sir William, on reading his letter, said he 
was too prudent. There was great difference in persons ; 
and discretion did not always accompany years, nor was 
youth always without it. "And since he will not set you 
up," says he, " I will do it myself. Give me an inventory 
of the things necessary to be had from England, and I 
will send for them. You shall repay me when you are 
able ; I am resolv'd to have a good printer here, and I 
am sure you must succeed." This was spoken with such 
an appearance of cordiality, that I had not the least doubt 
of his meaning what he said. I had hitherto kept the 
proposition of my setting up, a secret in Philadelphia, and 



36 



FRANKLIN 



I still kept it. Had it been known that I depended on 
the governor, probably some friend, that knew him bet- 
ter, would have advis'd me not to rely on him, as I after- 
wards heard it as his known character to be liberal of 
promises which he never meant to keep. Yet, unsolicited 
as he was by me, how could I think his generous offers 
insincere ? I believ'd him one of the best men in the 
world. 

I presented him an inventory of a little print'g-house, 
amounting by my computation to about one hundred 
pounds sterling. He lik'd it, but ask'd me if my being on 
the spot in England to chuse the types, and see that every 
thing was good of the kind, might not be of some advan- 
tage. " Then," says he, " when there, you may make ac- 
quaintances, and establish correspondences in the book- 
selling and stationery way." I agreed that this might be 
advantageous. " Then," says he " get yourself ready to 
go with Annis ; " which was the annual ship, and the only 
one at that time usually passing between London and 
Philadelphia. But it would be some months before An- 
nis sail'd, so I continu'd working with Keimer, fretting 
about the money Collins had got from me, and in daily 
apprehensions of being call'd upon by Vernon, which, 
however, did not happen for some years after. 

I believe I have omitted mentioning that, in my first 
voyage from Boston, being becalm'd off Block Island, our 
people set about catching cod, and hauled up a great 
many. Hitherto I had stuck to my resolution of not eat- 
ing animal food, and on this occasion I consider'd, with 
my master Tryon, the taking every fish as a kind of un- 
provoked murder, since none of them had, or ever could 
do us any injury that might justify the slaughter. All 
this seemed very reasonable. But I had formerly been a 
great lover of fish, and, when this came hot out of the fry- 
ing-pan, it smelt admirably well. I balanc'd some time 
between principle and inclination, till I recollected that, 
when the fish were opened, I saw smaller fish taken out 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 37 

of their stomachs ; then thought I, " If you eat one an- 
other, I don't see why we mayn't eat you." So 1 din'd 
upon cod very heartily, and continued to eat with other 
people, returning only now and then occasionally to a 
vegetable diet. So convenient a thing it is to be a reason- 
able creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason 
for every thing one has a mind to do. 

Keimer and I liv'd on a pretty good familiar footing, 
and agreed tolerably well, for he suspected nothing of my 
setting up. He retained a great deal of his old enthusi- 
asms and lov'd argumentation. We therefore had many 
disputations. I used to work him so with my Socratic 
method, and had trepann'd him so often by questions ap- 
parently so distant from any point we had in hand, and 
yet by degrees lead to the point, and brought him into dif- 
ficulties and contradictions, that at last he grew ridicu- 
lously cautious, and would hardly answer me the most 
common question, without asking first, " What do you in- 
tend to infer from that ?'' However, it gave him so high 
an opinion of my abilities in the confuting way, that he 
seriously proposed my being his colleague in a project he 
had of setting up a new sect. He was to preach the doc- 
trines, and I was to confound all opponents. When he 
came to explain with me upon the doctrines, I found sev- 
eral conundrums which I objected to, unless I might have 
my way a little too, and introduce some of mine. 

Keimer wore his beard at full length, because some- 
where in the Mosaic law it is said, " Thou shalt 7wt viar the 
corners of thy beardy He likewise kept the Seventh day. 
Sabbath ; and these two points were essentials with him. 
I dislik'd both ; but agreed to admit them upon condition 
of his adopting the doctrine of using no animal food. " I 
doubt," said he, " my constitution will not bear that." I 
assur'd him it would, and that he would be the better for 
it. He was usually a great glutton, and I promised my- 
self some diversion in half starving him. He agreed to 
try the practice, if I would keep him company. I did so. 



38 FRANKLIN 

and wc held it for three months. We had our victuals 
dress'd, and brought to us regularly by a woman in the 
neighborhood, who had from me a list of forty dishes, to 
be prepar'd for us at different times, in all of which there 
was neither fish, flesh, nor fowl, and the whim suited me 
the better at this time from the cheapness of it, not cost- 
ing us above eighteen pence sterling each per week. I 
have since kept several Lents most strictly, leaving the 
common diet for that, and that for the common, abruptly, 
without the least inconvenience, so that I think there is 
little in the advice of making those changes by easy gra- 
dations. I went on pleasantly, but poor Keimer suffered 
grievously, tired of the project, long'd for the flesh-pots 
of Egypt, and order'd a roast pig. He invited me and 
two women friends to dine with him ; but, it being 
brought too soon upon table, he could not resist the 
temptation, and ate the whole before we came. 

I had made some courtship during this time to Miss 
Read. I had a great respect and affection for her, and 
had some reason to believe she had the same for me ; but, 
as I was about to take a long voyage, and we were both 
very young, only a little above eighteen, it was thought 
most prudent by her mother to prevent our going too far 
at present, as a marriage, if it was to take place, would be 
more convenient after my return, when I should be, as 
I expected, set up in my business. Perhaps, too, she 
thought my expectations not so well founded as I imag- 
ined them to be. 

My chief acquaintances at this time were Charles 
Osborne, Joseph Watson, and James Ralph, all lovers 
of reading. The two first were clerks to an eminent 
scrivener or conveyancer in the town, Charles Brogden ; 
the other was clerk to a merchant. Watson was a pious, 
sensible young man, of great integrity ; the others rather 
more lax in their principles of religion, particularly 
Ralph, who, as well as Collins, had been unsettled by 
me, for which they both made me suffer. Osborne was 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 39 

sensible, candid, frank ; sincere and affectionate to his 
friends ; but, in literary matters, too fond of criticising. 
Ralph was ingenious, genteel in his manners, and ex- 
tremely eloquent ; I think I never knew a prettier talker. 
Both of them great admirers of poetry, and began to try 
their hands in little pieces. Many pleasant walks we four 
had together on Sundays into the woods, near Schuylkill, 
where we read to one another, and conferr'd on what we 
read. 

Ralph was inclin'd to pursue the study of poetry, not 
doubting but he might become eminent in it, and make 
his fortune by it, alleging that the best poets must, when 
they first began to write, make as many faults as he did. 
Osborne dissuaded him, assur'd him he had no genius for 
poetry, and advis'd him to think of nothing beyond the 
business he was bred to ; that, in the mercantile way, tho' 
he had no stock, he might, by his diligence and punctual- 
ity, recommend himself to employment as a factor, and in 
time acquire wherewith to trade on his own account. I 
approv'd the amusing one's self with poetry now and 
then, so far as to improve one's language, but no farther. 

On this it was propos'd that we should each of us, at 
our next meeting, produce a piece of our own composing, 
in order to improve by our mutual observations, criti- 
cisms, and corrections. As language and expression were 
what we had in view, we excluded all considerations of 
invention by agreeing that the task should be a version 
of the eighteenth Psalm, which describes the descent of a 
Deity. When the time of our meeting drew nigh, Ralph 
called on me first, and let me know his piece was ready. 
I told him I had been busy, and, having little inclination, 
had done nothing. He then show'd me his piece for my 
opinion, and I much approv'd it, as it appear'd to me to 
have great merit. " Now," says he, " Osborne never will 
allow the least merit in any thing of mine, but makes 1000 
criticisms out of mere envy. He is not so jealous of you ; 
I wish, therefore, you would take this piece, and produce 



40 FRANKLIN 

it as yours ; I will pretend not to have had time, and so 
produce nothing. We shall then see what he will say to 
it." It was agreed, and I immediately transcrib'd it, that 
it might appear in my own hand. 

We met ; Watson's performance was read ; there were 
some beauties in it, but many defects. Osborne's was 
read ; it was much better; Ralph did it justice; remarked 
some faults, but applauded the beauties. He himself had 
nothing to produce. I was backward ; seemed desirous 
of being excused ; had not had sufficient time to correct, 
etc. ; but no excuse could be admitted ; produce I must. 
It was read and repeated ; Watson and Osborne gave up 
the contest, and join'd in applauding it. Ralph only made 
some criticisms, and propos'd some amendments; but I 
defended my text. Osborne was against Ralph, and told 
him he was no better a critic than poet, so he dropt the 
argument. As they two went home together, Osborne 
expressed himself still more strongly in favor of what he 
throught my production ; having restrain'd himself be- 
fore, as he said, lest I should think it flattery. " But who 
would have imagin'd," said he, " that Franklin had been 
capable of such a performance ; such painting, such force, 
such fire ! He has even improv'd the original. In his 
common conversation he seems to have no choice of 
words ; he hesitates and blunders ; and yet, good God ! 
how he writes!" When we next met, Ralph discovered 
the trick we had plaid him, and Osborne was a little 
laught at. 

This transaction fixed Ralph in his resolution of be- 
coming a poet. I did all I could to dissuade him from it, 
but he continued scribbling verses till Pope cured him. 
He became, however, a pretty good prose writer. More 
of him hereafter. But, as I may not have occasion again 
to mention the other two, I shall just remark here, that 
Watson died in my arms a few years after, much lamented, 
being the best of our set. Osborne went to the West 
Indies, where he became an eminent lawyer and made 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 4I 

money, but died young. He and I had made a serious 
agreement, that the one who happen'd first to die should, 
if possible, make a friendly visit to the other, and acquaint 
him how he found things in that separate state. But he 
never fulfill'd his promise. 

The governor, seeming to like my company, had me 
frequently to his house, and his setting me up was always 
mention'd as a fixed thing. I was to take with me letters 
recommendatory to a number of his friends, besides the 
letter of credit to furnish me with the necessary money 
for purchasing the press and types, paper, etc. For these 
letters I was appointed to call at different times, when 
they were to be ready ; but a future time was still named. 
Thus he went on till the ship, whose departure too had 
been several times postponed, was on the point of sailing. 
Then, when I call'd to take my leave and receive the let- 
ters, his secretary. Dr. Bard, came out to me and said the 
governor was extremely busy in writing, but would be 
down at Newcastle before the ship, and there the letters 
would be delivered to me. 

Ralph, though married, and having one child, had de- 
termined to accompany me in this voyage. It was thought 
he intended to establish a correspondence, and obtain 
goods to sell on commission ; but I found afterwards, 
that, thro' some discontent with his wife's relations, he 
purposed to leave her on their hands, and never return 
again. Having taken leave of my friends, and interchang'd 
some promises with Miss Read, I left Philadelphia in the 
ship, which anchor'd at Newcastle. The governor was 
there ; but when I went to his lodging, the secretary came 
to me from him with the civillest message in the world, 
that he could not then see me, being engaged in business 
of the utmost importance, but should send the letters to 
me on board, wish'd me heartily a good voyage and a 
speedy return, etc. I returned on board a little puzzled, 
but still not doubting. 

Mr. Andrew Hamilton, a famous lawyer of Philadel- 



42 



FRANKLIN 



phia, had taken passage in the same ship for himself and 
son, and with Mr. Denham, a Quaker merchant, and 
Messrs. Onion and Russel, masters of an iron work in 
Maryland, had engag-'d the great cabin ; so that Ralph 
and I were forced to take up with a berth in the steerage, 
and none on board knowing us, were considered as ordi- 
nary persons. But Mr, Hamilton and his son (it was James, 
since governor) return'd from Newcastle to Philadelphia, 
the father being recall'd by a great fee to plead for a 
seized ship ; and, just before we sail'd, Colonel French 
coming on board, and showing me great respect, I w^as 
more taken notice of, and, with my friend Ralph, invited 
by the other gentlemen to come into the cabin, there be- 
ing now room. Accordingly, we remov'd thither. 

Understanding that Colonel French had brought on 
board the governor's despatches, I ask'd the captain for 
those letters that were to be under my care. He said all 
were put into the bag together and he could not then 
come at them ; but, before we landed in England, 1 should 
have an opportunity of picking them out ; so I was satis- 
fied for the present, and we proceeded on our voyage. 
We had a sociable company in the cabin, and lived 
uncommonly well, having the addition of all Mr. Ham- 
ilton's stores, who had laid in plentifully. In this passage 
Mr. Denham contracted a friendship for me that con- 
tinued during his life. The voyage was otherwise not 
a pleasant one, as we had a great deal of bad weather. 

When we came into the Channel, the captain kept his 
word with me, and gave me an opportunit}^ of examining 
the bag for the governor's letters. I found none upon 
which my name was put as under my care. I picked out 
six or seven, that, by the handwriting, I thought might 
be the promised letters, especially as one of them was 
directed to Basket, the king's printer, and another to 
some stationer. We arriv'd in London the 24th of De- 
cember, 1724. I waited upon the stationer, who came 
first in my way, delivering the letter as from Governor 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 43 

Keith. " I don't know such a person," says he ; but, 
opening the letter, " O ! this is from Riddlcsden. I have 
lately found him to be a compleat rascal, and I will have 
nothing to do with him, nor receive any letters from 
him." So, putting the letter into my hand, he turn'd on 
his heel and left me to serve some customer. I was sur- 
prized to find these were not the governor's letters; and, 
after recollecting and comparing circumstances, I began 
to doubt his sincerity. I found my friend Denham, and 
opened the whole affair to him. He let me into Keith's 
character ; told me there was not the least probability 
that he had written any letters for me; that no one, who 
knew him, had the smallest dependence on him ; and he 
laught at the notion of the governor's giving me a letter 
of credit, having, as he said, no credit to give. On my 
expressing some concern about what I should do, he ad- 
vised me to endeavor getting some employment in the 
way of my business. "Among the printers here," said 
he, "you will improve yourself, and when you return to 
America, you will set up to greater advantage." 

We both of us happen'd to know, as well as the sta- 
tioner, that Riddlesden, the attorney, was a very knave. 
He had half ruin'd Miss Read's father by persuading him 
to be bound for him. By this letter it appear'd there was 
a secret scheme on foot to the prejudice of Hamilton 
(suppos'd to be then coming over with us); and that 
Keith was concerned in it with Riddlesden. Denham, 
who was a friend of Hamilton's, thought he ought to be 
acquainted with it; so, when he arriv'd in England, which 
was soon after, partly from resentment and ill-will to Keith 
and Riddlesden, and partly from good-will to him, I waited 
on him, and gave him the letter. He thank'd me cordially, 
the information being of importance to him ; and from that 
time he became my friend, greatly to my advantage after- 
wards on many occasions. 

But what shall we think of a governor's playing such 
pitiful tricks, and imposing so grossly on a poor ignorant 



44 



FRANKLIN 



boy ! It was a habit he had acquired. He wish'd to 
please everybody; and, having little to give, he gave ex- 
pectations. He was otherwise an ingenious, sensible man, 
a pretty good writer, and a good governor for the people, 
tho' not for his constituents, the proprietaries, whose in- 
structions he sometimes disregarded. Several of our best 
laws were of his planning and passed during his adminis- 
tration. 

Ralph and I were inseparable companions. We took 
lodgings together in Little Britain at three shillings and 
sixpence a week — as much as we could then afford. He 
found some relations, but they were poor, and unable to 
assist him. He now let me know his intentions of remain- 
ing in London, and that he never meant to return to Phila- 
dcl[>hia. He had brought no money with him, the whole 
he could muster having been expended in paying his pas- 
sage. I had fifteen pistoles ; so he borrowed occasionally 
of me to subsist, while he was looking out for business. 
He first endeavored to get into the playhouse, believing 
himself qualify'd for an actor ; but Wilkes, to whom he 
apply 'd,advis'd him candidly not to think of that employ- 
ment, as it was impossible he should succeed in it. Then 
he propos'd to Roberts, a publisher in Paternoster Row, 
to write for him a weekly paper like the •' Spectator," 
on certain conditions, which Roberts did not approve. 
Then he endeavored to get employment as a hackney 
writer, to copy for the stationers and lawyers about the 
Temple, but could find no vacancy. 

1 immediately got into work at Palmer's, then a famous 
printing-house in Bartholomew Close, and here I continu'd 
near a year. I was pretty diligent, but spent with Ralph 
a good tleal of my earnings in going to plays and other 
places of amusement. We had together consumed all my 
pistoles, and now just rubbed on from hand to mouth. 
He seem'd quite to forget his wife and child, and I, by 
degrees, my engagements with Miss Read, to whom I 
never wrote more than one letter, and that was to let her 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 45 

know I was not likely soon to return. This was another 
of the great errata of my life, which I should wish to cor- 
rect if I were to live it over again. In fact, by our ex- 
penses, I was constantly kept unable to pay my passage. 

At Palmer's I was employed in composing for the sec- 
ond edition of WoUaston's " Religion of Nature." Some 
of his reasonings not appearing to me well founded, I 
wrote a little metaphysical piece in which I made remarks 
on them. It was entitled " A Dissertation on Liberty and 
Necessity, Pleasure and Pain." I inscribed it to my friend 
Ralph ; I printed a small number. Itoccasion'd my being 
more consider'd by Mr. Palmer as a young man of some 
ingenuity, tho' he seriously expostulated with me upon the 
principles of my pamphlet, which to him appcar'd abomi- 
nable. My printing this pamphlet was another erratum.' 
While I lodg'd in Little Britain, I made an acquaintance 
with one Wilcox, a bookseller, whose shop was at the next 
door. He had an immense collection of second-hand books. 
Circulating libraries were not then in use ; but we agreed 
that, on certain reasonable terms, which I have now for- 
gotten, I might take, read, and return any of his books. 
This I esteem'd a great advantage, and I made as much 
use of it as I could. 

My pamphlet by some means falling into the hands of 
one Lyons, a surgeon, author of a book entitled " The 
Infallibility of Human Judgment," it occasioned an ac- 
quaintance between us. He took great notice of me, 
called on me often to converse on those subjects, carried 

me to the Horns, a pale alehouse in Lane, Cheapside, 

and introduced me to Dr. Mandeville, author of the " Fable 
of the Bees," who had a club there, of which he was the 
soul, being a most facetious, entertaining companion. 
Lyons, too, introduced me to Dr. Pemberton, at Batson's 
Coffee-house, who promis'd to give me an opportunity, 

' NoTB. — This anonymous pamphlet of 32 pages appeared at London 
in 1725. An edition of it was printed in Dublin in 1733. Both are in the 
Library of Congress. — A. R. S. 



46 FRANKLIN 

some time or other, of seeing Sir Isaac Newton, of which 
I was extreamely desirous ; but this never happened. 

I had brought over a few curiosities, among which the 
principal was a purse made of the asbestos, which purifies 
by fire. Sir Hans Sloane heard of it, came to see me, and 
invited me to his house in Bloomsbury Square, where he 
show'd me all his curiosities, and persuaded me to let him 
add that to the number, for which he paid me hand- 
somely. 

In our house there lodg'd a young woman, a milliner, 
who, I think, had a shop in the Cloisters. She had been 
genteelly bred, was sensible and lively, and of most pleas- 
ing conversation. Ralph read plays to her in the even- 
ings, they grew intimate, she took another lodging, and 
he followed her. They liv'd together some time ; but, he 
being still out of busmess, and her income not sufficient to 
maintain them with her child, he took a resolution of going 
from London, to try for a country school, which he thought 
himself well qualified to undertake, as he wrote an excel- 
lent hand, and was a master of arithmetic and accounts. 
This, however, he deemed a business below him, and con- 
fident of future better fortune, when he should be unwill- 
ing to have it known that he once was so meanly em- 
ployed, he changed his name, and did me the honor to 
assume mine ; for I soon after had a letter from him, 
acquainting me that he was settled in a small village (in 
Berkshire, I think it was, where he taught reading and 
writing to ten or a dozen boys, at sixpence each per week), 

recommending Mrs. T to my care, and desiring me to 

write to him, directing for Mr. Franklin, schoolmaster, at 
such a place. 

He continued to write frequently, sending me large 
specimens of an epic poem which he was then composing, 
and desiring my remarks and corrections. These I gave 
him from time to time, but endeavor'd rather to discour- 
age his proceeding. One of Young's " Satires " was then 
just published. I copy'd and sent him a great part of it, 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



47 



which set in a strong light the folly of pursuing the 
Muses with any hope of advancement by them. All was 
in vain ; sheets of the poem continued to come by every 

post. In the mean time, Mrs. T , having on his account 

lost her friends and business, was often in distresses, and 
us'd to send for mc, and borrow what I could spare to 
help her out of them. I grew fond of her company, and, 
being at that time under no religious restraint, and presum- 
ing upon my importance to her, I attempted familiarities 
(another erratum) which she repuls'd with a proper resent- 
ment, and acquainted him with my behaviour. This made 
a breach between us ; and, when he returned again to Lon- 
don, he let me know he thought I had cancell'd all the 
obligations he had been under to me. So I found I was 
never to expect his re[)aying me what I lent to him, or 
advanc'd for him. This, however, was not then of much 
consequence, as he was totally unable ; and in the loss of 
his friendship I found myself relieved from a burthen. I 
now began to think of getting a little money beforehand, 
and, expecting better work, I left Palmer's to work at 
Watts's, near Lincoln's Inn Fields, a still greater print- 
ing-house. Here I continued all the rest of my stay in 
London. 

At my first admission into this printing-house I took 
to working at press, imagining I felt a want of the b(jdily 
exercise I had been us'd to in America, where presswork 
is mix'd with composing. I drank only water ; the other 
workmen, near fifty in number, were great guzzlers of 
beer. On occasion, I carried up and down stairs a large 
form of types in each hand, when others carried but one 
in both hands. They wondered to see, from this and 
several instances, that the Water- American, as they called 
me, was stronger than themselves, who drank strong beer ! 
We had an alehouse boy who attended always in the 
house to supply the workmen. My companion at the 
press drank every day a pint before breakfast, a pint at 
breakfast with his bread and cheese, a pint between 



48 



FRANKLIN 



breakfast and dinner, a pint at dinner, a pint in the after- 
noon about six o'clock, and another when he had done his 
day's work. I thought it a detestable custom ; but it was 
necessary, he suppos'd, to drink strong beer, that he 
might be strong to labor. I endeavored to convince him 
that the bodily strength afforded by beer could only be 
in proportion to the grain or flour of the barley dis- 
solved in the water of which it was made ; that there was 
more flour in a pennyworth of bread ; and therefore, if 
he would eat that with a pint of water, it would give him 
more strength than a quart of beer. He drank on, how- 
ever, and had four or five shillings to pay out of his 
wages every Saturday night for that muddling liquor; an 
expense I was free from. And thus these poor devils 
keep themselves always under. 

Watts, after some weeks, desiring to have me in the 
composing-room, I left the pressmen; a new bien venu or 
sum for drink, being five shillings, was demanded of me 
by the compositors. I thought it an imposition, as I had 
paid below ; the master thought so too, and forbad my 
paying it. I stood out two or three weeks, was accord- 
ingly considered as an excommunicate, and had so many 
little pieces of private mischief done me, by mixing my 
sorts, transposing my pages, breaking my matter, etc., 
etc., if I were ever so little out of the room, and all as- 
cribed to the chappel ghost, which they said ever haunted 
those not regularly admitted, that, notwithstanding the 
master's protection, I found myself oblig'd to comply and 
pay the money, convinc'd of the folly of being on ill 
terms with those one is to live with continually. 

I was now on a fair footing with them, and soon ac- 
quir'd considerable influence. I propos'd some reason- 
able alterations in their chappel laws, and carried them 
against all opposition. From my example, a great part 
of them left their muddling breakfast of beer, and bread, 
and cheese, finding they could with me be supply'd from 
a neighboring house with a large porringer of hot water- 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



49 



gruel, sprinkled with pepper, crumb'd with bread, and a 
bit of butter in it, for the price of a pint of beer, viz., three 
half-pence. This was a more comfortable as well as 
cheaper breakfast, and kept their heads clearer. Those 
who continued sotting with beer all day, were often, by 
not paying, out of credit at the alehouse, and us'd to make 
interest with me to get beer ; their light, as they phrased 
it, being out. 1 watch'd the pay-table on Saturday night, 
and collected what I stood engag'd for them, having to 
pay sometimes near thirty shillings a week on their 
accounts. This, and my being esteem'd a pretty good 
riggite, that is, a jocular verbal satirist, supported my 
consequence in the society. My constant attendance (I 
never making a St. Monday) recommended me to the 
master ; and my uncommon quickness at composing oc- 
casioned my being put upon all work of dispatch, which 
was generally better paid. So I went on now very 
agreeably. 

My lodging in Little Britain being too remote, I 
found another in Duke-street, opposite to the Romish 
Chapel. It was two pair of stairs backwards, at an Italian 
warehouse. A widow lady kept the house ; she had a 
daughter, and a maid servant, and a journeyman who at- 
tended the warehouse, but lodg'd abroad. After sending 
to inquire my character at the house where I last lodg'd, 
she agreed to take me in at the same rate, 3s. 6d. per week ; 
cheaper, as she said, from the protection she expected in 
having a man lodge in the house. She was a widow, an 
elderly woman ; had been bred a Protestant, being a 
clergyman's daughter, but was converted to the Catholic 
religion by her husband, whose memory she much re- 
vered ; had lived much among people of distinction, and 
knew a thousand anecdotes of them as far back as the 
times of Charles the Second. She was lame in her knees 
with the gout, and, therefore, seldom stirred out of her 
room, so sometimes wanted company ; and hers was so 

highly amusing to me, that I was sure to spend an even- 
4 



50 



FRANKLIN 



ing with her whenever she desired it. Our supper was 
only half an anchovy each, on a very little strip of bread 
and butter, and half a pint of ale between us ; but the 
entertainment was in her conversation. My always keep- 
ing- good hours, and giving little trouble in the family, 
made her unwilling to part with me ; so that, when I 
talk'd of a lodging I had heard of, nearer my business, for 
two shillings a week, which, intent as I now was on sav- 
ing money, made some difference, she bid me not think 
of it, for she would abate me two shillings a week for the 
future ; so I remained with her at one shilling and six- 
pence as long as I staid in London. 

In a garret of her house there lived a maiden lady of 
seventy, in the most retired manner, of whom my land- 
lady gave me this account : that she was a Roman Catho- 
lic, had been sent abroad when young, and lodg'd in a 
nunnery with an intent of becoming a nun ; but, the 
country not agreeing with her, she returned to England, 
where, there being no nunnery, she had vow'd to lead the 
life of a nun, as near as might be done in those circum- 
stances. Accordingly, she had given all her estate to 
charitable uses, reserving only twelve pounds a year to 
live on, and out of this sum she still gave a great deal in 
charity, living herself on water-gruel only, and using no 
fire but to boil it. She had lived many years in that 
garret, being permitted to remain there gratis by succes- 
sive Catholic tenants of the house below, as they deemed 
it ;a blessing to have her there. A priest visited her to 
confess her every day. " I have ask'd her," says my 
landlady, " how she, as she liv'd, could possibly find so 
much employment for a confessor?" "Oh," said she, 
" it is impossible to avoid vain tho7ights." I was permitted 
once to visit her. She was cheerful and polite, and con- 
vers'd pleasantly. The room was clean, but had no other 
furniture than a matras, a table with a crucifix and book, 
a stool which she gave me to sit on, and a picture over the 
chimney of Saint Veronica displa3nng her handkerchief, 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 5 1 

with the miraculous figure of Christ's bleeding face on 
it, which she explained to me with great seriousness. 
She look'd pale, but was never sick ; and I give it as an- 
other instance on how small an income life and health 
may be supported. 

At Watts's printing-house I contracted an acquaint- 
ance with an ingenious young man, one Wygate, who, 
having wealthy relations, had been better educated than 
most printers ; was a tolerable Latinist, spoke French, 
and lov'd reading. I taught him and a friend of his to 
swim at twice going into the river, and they soon became 
good swimmers. They introduc'd me to some gentlemen 
from the country, who went to Chelsea by water to see 
the College and Don Saltero's curiosities. In our return, 
at the request of the company, whose curiosity Wygate 
had excited, I stripped and leaped into the river, and 
swam from near Chelsea to Blackfryar's, performing on 
the way many feats of activity, both upon and under 
water, that surpris'd and pleas'd those to whom they 
were novelties. 

I had from a child been ever delighted with this exer- 
cise, had studied and practis'd all Thevenot's motions and 
positions, added some of my own, aiming at the graceful 
and easy as well as the useful. All these I took this occa- 
sion of exhibiting to the company, and was much flatter'd 
by their admiration ; and Wygate, who was desirous of 
becoming a master, grew more and more attach'd to me 
on that account, as well as from the similarity of our 
studies. He at length proposed to me travelling all over 
Europe together, supporting ourselves everywhere by 
working at our business. I was once inclined to it ; but, 
mentioning it to my good friend Mr. Denham, with 
whom I often spent an hour when I had leisure, he dis- 
suaded me from it, advising me to think only of returning 
to Pennsilvania, which he was now about to do. 

I must record one trait of this good man's character. 
He had formerly been in business at Bristol, but failed in 



52 



FRANKLIN 



debt to a number of people, compounded and went to 
America. There, by a close application to business as a 
merchant, he acquir'd a plentiful fortune in a few years. 
Returninj:^ to England in the ship with me, he invited his 
old creditors to an entertainment, at which he thank'd 
them for the easy composition they had favored him 
with, and, when they expected nothing but the treat, 
every man at the first remove found under his plate an 
order on a banker for the full amount of the unpaid 
remainder with interest. 

He now told me he was about to return to Philadel- 
phia, and should carry over a great quantity of goods in 
order to open a store there. He propos'd to take me 
over as his clerk, to keep his books, in which he would 
instruct me, copy his letters, and attend the store. He 
added, that, as soon as 1 should be acquainted with mer- 
cantile business, he would promote me by sending me 
with a cargo of flour and bread, etc., to the West Indies, 
and procure me commissions from others which would be 
profitable ; and, if I manag'd well, would establish me 
handsomely. The thing plcas'd me ; for I was grown 
tired of London, remembered with pleasure the happy 
months I had spent in Pennsylvania, and wish'd again to 
see it ; therefore I immediately agreed on the terms of 
fifty pounds a year, Pennsylvania money ; less, indeed, 
than mv present gettings as a compositor, but affording 
a better prospect. 

I now took leave of printing, as I thought, for ever, 
and was daily cmploy'd in ni}' new business, going about 
with Mr. Denham among the tradesmen to purchase vari- 
ous articles, and seeing them pack'd up, doing errands, 
calling upon workmen to dispatch, etc.; and, when all 
was on board, I had a few days' leisure. On one of these 
days, I was, to my surprise, sent for by a great man I 
knew only by name, a Sir William Wyndham, and I 
waited upon him. He had heard by some means or 
other of my swimming from Chelsea to Blackfriar's, and 



AUTOI5IOGRAPHY 53 

of my teaching Wygatc and another young- man to swim 
in a few hours. lie had two sons, about to set out on 
their travels ; he wish'd to have them hrst taught swim- 
ming, and proposed to gratify me handsomely if I would 
teach them. They were not yet come to town, and my 
stay was uncertain, so I could not undertake it; but, from 
this incident, 1 thought it likely that, if I were to remain 
in England and open a swimming-school, I might get a 
good deal of money ; and it struck me so strongly, that, 
had the overture been sooner made me, probably I should 
not so soon have returned to America. After many years, 
you and I had something of more importance to do with 
one of these sons of vSir William Wyndham, become Earl 
of Egremont, which I shall mention in its place. 

Thus I spent about eighteen months in London ; most 
part of the time I work'd hard at my business, and spent 
but little upon myself except in seeing plays and in books. 
My friend Ralj)h had kept rnc poor ; he owed me about 
twenty-seven pounds, which I was now never likely to 
receive; a great sum out of my small earnings! I lov'd 
him, notwithstanding, for he had many amiable qualities. 
I had by no means improv'd my fortune; but I had 
picked up some very ingenious acquaintance, whose 
conversation was of great advantage to me ; and I had 
read considerably. 

We sail'd from Gravesend on the 23d of July, 1726. 
For the incidents of the voyage, I refer you to my Jour- 
nal, where you will find them all minutely related, f^er- 
haps the most important part of that journal is \k\c plan to 
be found in it, which I formed at sea, for regulating my 
future conduct in life. It is the more remarkable, as being 
formed when I was so young, and yet being pretty faith- 
fully adhered to quite thro' to old age. 

We landed in I^hiladelphia on the nth of October, 
where I found sundry alterations. Keith was no longer 
governor, being superseded by Major Gordon. I met 
him walking the streets as a common citizen. He seem'd 



54 FRANKLIN 

a little asham'd at seeing me, but pass'd without saying 
any thing. I should have been as much asham'd at seeing 
Miss Read, had not her friends, despairing with reason of 
my return after the receipt of my letter, persuaded her to 
marry another, one Rogers, a potter, which was done in 
my absence. With him, however, she was never happy 
and soon parted from him, refusing to cohabit with him 
or bear his name, it being now said that he had another 
wife. He was a worthless fellow, tho' an excellent work- 
man, which was the temptation to her friends. He got 
into debt, ran away in 1727 or 1728, went to the West 
Indies, and died there. Keimer had got a better house, a 
shop well supply 'd with stationery, plenty of new types, 
a number of hands, tho' none good, and seem'd to have 
a great deal of business. 

Mr. Denham took a store in Water-street, where we 
open'd our goods ; I attended the business diligently, 
studied accounts, and grew, in a little time, expert at 
selling. We lodg'd and boarded together ; he counsell'd 
me as a father, having a sincere regard for me. I re- 
spected and lov'd him, and we might have gone on to- 
gether very happy ; but, in the beginning of February, 
172^-, when I had just pass'd my twenty-first year, we both 
were taken ill. My distemper was a pleurisy, which very 
nearly carried me off. I suffered a good deal, gave up 
the point in my own mind, and was rather disappointed 
when I found myself recovering, regretting, in some de- 
gree, that I must now, some time or other, have all that 
disagreeable work to do over again. I forget what his 
distemper was ; it held him a long time, and at length 
carried him off. He left me a small legacy in a nuncupa- 
tive will, as a token of his kindness for me, and he left me 
once more to the wide world ; for the store was taken 
into the care of his executors, and my employment under 
him ended. 

My brother-in-law, Holmes, being now at Philadelphia, 
advised my return to my business ; and Keimer tempted 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 55 

me, with an offer of large wages by the year, to come and 
take the management of his printing-house, that he might 
better attend his stationer's shop. I had heard a bad 
character of him in London from his wife and her friends, 
and was not fond of having any more to do with him. I 
tri'd for farther employment as a merchant's clerk ; but, 
not readily meeting with any, I clos'd again with Keimer. 
I found in his house these hands: Hugh Meredith, a 
Welsh Pensilvanian, thirty years of age, bred to country 
work ; honest, sensible, had a great deal of solid obser- 
vation, was something of a reader, but given to drink. 
Stephen Potts, a young countryman of full age, bred to 
the same, of uncommon natural parts, and great wit and 
humor, but a little idle. These he had agreed with at ex- 
tream low wages per week, to be rais'd a shilling every 
three months, as they would deserve by improving in 
their business ; and the expectation of these high wages, 
to come on hereafter, was what he had drawn them in 
with. Meredith was to work at press. Potts at book- 
binding, which he, by agreement, was to teach them, 

though he knew neither one nor t'other. John , a 

wild Irishman, brought up to no business, whose service, 
for four years, Keimer had purchased from the captain 
of a ship ; he, too, was to be made a pressman. George 
Webb, an Oxford scholar, whose time for four years he 
had likewise bought, intending him for a compositor, of 
whom more presently ; and David Harry, a country boy, 
whom he had taken apprentice. 

I soon perceiv'd that the intention of engaging me at 
wages so much higher than he had been us'd to give, was, 
to have these raw, cheap hands form'd thro' me ; and, as 
soon as I had instructed them, then they being all articled 
to him, he should be able to do without me. I went on, 
however, very cheerfuly, put his printing-house in order, 
which had been in great confusion, and brought his hands 
by degrees to mind their business and to do it better. 

It was an odd thing to find an Oxford scholar in the 



s^> 



IKANKl.lN 



sitii;itiou ol a hoiij'lil ju'ivanl. lie was no! nioic (liau 
rif^ljlccii ycaisol aj;c, and «;av(' luc ( his arc oiiiil <>l liim- 
Sfll : (hat \\c was boiii in Ciloucfslcr', ('duoatcil at a 
jj^tatmnaf school there, had been distiiii'iiishM ainonjj^ llic 
sehnlais loi some appai cnt supeiioiitv in [ici lot I'.iiii}^' his 
pail, when they e\liil>iled i>lavs ; helonj^M lo the Witty 
('hil) there, and had wiitteu some pieces in prose and 
veise, \vhi( li weie pi inted in the ( ili ineestei iiewspajx"! s ; 
theme he was sent to ()xlord; wlien' he continued al)c)ut 
a year, hut not well satisli'd, wishini;- ot all ♦hinj;s to see 
I .niidon. and ix'come a playei. At len;;(h, receivim; his 
(jnaileily allowance ol lilleen {Miineas, insleacl ol disi:hari;"- 
ini' his debts he walU'd out ot town, hiil his rown in a 
lui/e bush, and tooted it to London, wheie, haviui; no 
Iriend to advise him, Uc IcW into bad lompany, soon spent 
l»is <;iiineas, loiu\d no means ol bein;^ intiodnc'd am(>n!; ihe 
players, s'K'w nei-essitous, pawn'd his cU)alhs, and wanted 
biead. \\'allvii\_i; the street very huni;iy,and not knowinj;- 
what to i\o with himsell, a cMinip's bill was jnit into his 
hand, olT(Mini>. immediate entertainment and eiuonia:;e- 
mcnt to such as \vt>uld bind th(Mjjselvc"s to seiye in Amef- 
ii a. I le went diicctly, si'vn'd the indentui'cs, was put into 
I lie ship, ami came o\rv, nevei- wiitin*;' a liiu* io ai'(]uaint 
his liiends what was become oi him. lie was liyely, 
witty, ivood natui 'd, ami a pleasant companion, but idle, 
thou!;htless. antl imptndent to the last di'j;i("e. 

John, thi' liislunan, soon ran awa\ ; with the test 1 
be;;an to live vei y a^iceably, lor they all fespi>eteil me 
the more, as tlu^y loimd Keimet" incai>abU* c>l instinctim;- 
them, anil that lii>m me they learned soniethiniV daily. 
We i\eviM- worked on S.itniilay, that bein>^ Kcmuum's Sab- 
bath, so I hail two days loi" readinj;. My acquaintance 
with inr,ei\ious people in the town incfe.ised. Ki-imcM' him- 
sell tie.ited me with i;a-eat I'iyilitv and appaitMit ic\^aid, 
and nothing; now made me uneasy but my debt to Wmhou, 
which 1 was yet unable to y.xy, beinj; hitheito but a poor 
U'conomist. lie, howc'vei', kindly m.uli" no dcmani.1 ol it. 



AIJI'OI'.IOCIMI'IIY 



"^7 



()in' ]>riii(iii<;' lioMS(! oflcn wiiiitcd soils, ;in<I llicifr was 
IK) Id Ici lomidci ill Ainciica; I had scctii lypcs cast Jit 
jaiiics's ill London, Uiil vvil.hoiit. iiiiicli aMctilioii to the 
rnaiiiKU" ; however, I now ccjntiivcd a mould, made use of 
I he icirers vv(' had as |)iiM(;he()iis, si i nek Ihe maliices in 
had, and thus snj»i)ly'd in a j)r(;Hy toleiahie way all de- 
licienci(;s. I also ciif^rav'd several lhiii<^s on occasion ; I 
made Ihe ink; I was warehouseman, and evei y I hiii;;, and, 
in shorl, (|itil(; a laotoliiin. 

IJul, however serviceahh- I mijdil he, I loiind thai my 
S(;rvic("S hecaiiM^ every day ol less iiii|)oi I.iik e, as the 
olliei' hands improv'd in ihe hnsiness; and, when Keinier 
paid my second (|iiarlei's wajMS, Ik- I<-I hk; know Ihal he 
jell, them loo heavy, and thoiij-hl I should make an ahale- 
njcnt. lie jj^rew by dcf^'ices le ,■, ( ivil, |mi1 on more ol 
the masler, fre(ju<:nlly lonnd lanll, was (aplions, and 
SCtMii'd icady lor an oiil hi eal:iii;;. I w<iil on, nevei t he- 
less, will) a j^ood deal ol palieiice, Ihinkiii}', that his en- 
cninher'cJ eircninstances were; partly the eans(^ At 
lenp^th a trifle snajjt onr conneclions ; ioi, a \:^vv.\\V noise 
happeniiifj^ iKs'ir Ihe courthouse, I put my head out of (he 
window to se(; what was llu* mailer. Keimer, heini^ in 
the street, look'd up and saw hk:, eall'd onl lo me in a 
loud voice and an}.;ry Ioik; to mind my hn .iness, addinjr 
some reproachful words, that nellled ww. the more lor 
their puhlicily, all the neifjhhors who weie lookiujj^ out 
on I Ik- same occasion, hein^ witnesses how I was treated, 
lie came up imfu(;dialely into the pi intiii"^ house, con- 
linu'd IIk; (piarr<rl, hi;^h words [)ass'd uw hoih sides, he 
J.^lve Jiie the rpiai lei's warning; we had si i|tiilaled, express- 
ing^ a wish thai, he h.ad not been olili}_;'(l to so lonj^ a warn- 
inj2^. I tf)ld him his wish was unnecessary, for I would 
leave him I hat inst.ant; and so, t.akin;^^ my hat, walk'd out 
of doors, desiriuf.^ Mer<;dilh, whom I saw below, lo lake 
care of some things I left, and brin^ them to my lodg- 
ings. 

Meredith came accordliijdy in the eveninj;, when we 



58 FRANKLIN 

talked my affair over. He had conceiv'd a great regard 
for me, and was very unwilling that I should leave the 
house while he remain'd in it. He dissuaded me from 
returning to my native country, which I began to think 
of ; he reminded me that Kcimer was in debt for all he 
possess'd ; that his creditors began to be uneasy ; that he 
kept his shop miserably, sold often without profit for 
ready money, and often trusted without keeping ac- 
counts ; that he must therefore fail, which would make 
a vacancy I might profit of. I objected my want of 
money. He then let me know that his father had a 
high opinion of me, and, from some discourse that had 
pass'd between them, he was sure would advance money 
to set us up, if I would enter into partnership with 
him. '* My time," sa3's he, " will be out with Keimer in 
the spring ; by that time we may have our press and 
types in from London. I am sensible I am no workman ; 
if you like it, your skill in the business shall be set 
against the stock 1 furnish, and we will share the profits 
equally." 

The proposal was agreeable, and I consented ; his 
father was in town and approv'd of it ; the more as he 
saw I had great influence with his son, had prevail'd on 
him to abstain long from dram-drinking, and he hop'd 
might break him of that wretched habit entirely, when 
we came to be so closely connected. I gave an inventory 
to the father, who carry *d it to a merchant ; the things 
were sent for, the secret was to be kept till they should 
arrive, and in the mean time I was to get work, if I could, 
at the other printing-house. But I found no vacancy 
there, and so remain'd idle a few days, when Keimer, on 
a prospect of being employ 'd to print some paper money 
in New Jersey, which would require cuts and various 
types that I only could supply, and apprehending Brad- 
ford might engage me and get the jobb from him, sent 
me a very civil message, that old friends should not part 
for a few words, the effect of sudden passion, and wishing 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



59 



me to return. Meredith persuaded me to comply, as it 
would give more opportunity for his improvement under 
my daily instructions ; so I return'd, and we went on 
more smoothly than for some time before. The New 
Jersey jobb was obtain'd, I contriv'd a copper-plate 
press for it, the first that had been seen in the country ; 
1 cut several ornaments and checks for the bills. We 
went together to Burlington, where I executed the 
whole to satisfaction ; and he received so large a sum for 
the work as to be enabled thereby to keep his head much 
longer above water. 

At Burlington I made an acquaintance with many 
principal people of the province. Several of them had 
been appointed by the Assembly a committee to attend 
the press, and take care that no more bills were printed 
than the law directed. They were therefore, by turns, 
constantly with us, and generally he who attended, 
brought with him a friend or two for company. My mind 
having been much more improv'd by reading than Kci- 
mer's, I suppose it was for that reason my conversation 
seem'd to be more valu'd. They had me to their houses, 
introduced me to their friends, and show'd me much 
civility ; while he, tho' the master, was a little neglected. 
In truth, he was an odd fish ; ignorant of common life, 
fond of rudely opposing receiv'd opinions, slovenlv to 
extream dirtiness, enthusiastic in some points of religion, 
and a little knavish withal. 

We continu'd there near three months; and by that 
time I could reckon among my acquired friends, Judge 
Allen, Samuel BustiU, the secretary of the Province, Isaac 
Pearson, Joseph Cooper, and several of the Smiths, mem- 
bers of Assembly, and Isaac Decow, the surveyor-gen- 
eral. The latter was a shrewd, sagacious old man, who 
told me that he began for himself, when young, by wheel- 
ing clay for the brickmakers, learned to write after he was 
of age, carri'd the chain for surveyors, who taught him 
surve3'ing, and he had now by his industry, acquir'd a 



6o FRANKLIN 

good estate ; and says he, " I foresee that 3-011 will soon 
work this man out of his business, and make a fortune in 
it at Philadelphia." He had not then the least intimation 
of my intention to set up there or anywhere. These 
friends were afterwards of great use to me, as I occa- 
sionally was to some of them. They all continued their 
regard for me as long as they lived. 

Before I enter upon my public appearance in business, 
it may be well to let you know the then state of my mind 
with regard to my principles and morals, that you may 
see how far those influenc'd the future events of my life. 
My parents had early given me religious impressions, and 
brought me through my childhood piously in the Dissent- 
ing way. But 1 was scarce fifteen, when, after doubting 
by turns of several pcnnts, as I found them disputed in 
the different books I read, I began to doubt of Revela- 
tion itself. Some books against Deism fell into my 
hands ; they were said to be the substance of sermons 
pireachcd at Boyle's Lectures. It happened that they 
wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was 
intended by them ; for the arguments of the Deists, which 
were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger 
than the refutations ; in short, I soon became a thorough 
Deist. My arguments perverted some others, particularly 
Collins and Ralph ; but, each of them having afterwards 
wrong'd me greatly without the least compunction, and 
recollecting Keith's conduct towards me (who was another 
freethinker), and my own towards Vernon and Miss Read^ 
which at times gave me great trouble, I began to suspect 
that this doctrine, tho' it might be true, was not very 
useful. My London pamphlet, which had for its motto 
these lines of Dryden : 

" \Vhatever is. is rij^ht. Though purblind man 
Socs but a part o' the chain, tiio nearest link : 
His eyes not carryinj^ to the equal beam, 
That poises all above ; " 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 6l 

and from the attributes of God, his infinite wisdom, good- 
ness and power, concluded that nothing could possibly 
be wrong in the world, and that vice and virtue were 
empty distinctions, no such things existing, appear'd now 
not so clever a performance as I once thought it; and I 
doubted whether some error had not insinuated itself un- 
perceiv'd into my argument; so as to infect all that fol- 
low'd, as is common in metaphysical reasonings. 

I grew convinc'd that truth, sincerity and integrity in 
dealings between man and man were of the utmost im- 
portance to the felicity of life ; and I form'd written reso- 
lutions, which still remain in my journal book, to practice 
them ever while I lived. Revelation had indeed no 
weight with me, as such ; but I entertain'd an opinion 
that, though certain actions might not be bad because 
they were forbidden by it, or good because it commanded 
them, yet probably those actions might be forbidden 
because they were bad for us, or commanded because they 
were beneficial to us, in their own natures, all the circum- 
stances of things considered. And this persuasion, with 
the kind hand of Providence, or some guardian angel, or 
accidental favorable circumstances and situations, or all 
together, preserved me, thro* this dangerous time of 
youth, and the hazardous situations I was sometimes in 
among strangers, remote from the eye and advice of my 
father, without any willful gross immorality or injustice, 
that might have been expected from my want of religion, 
I say willful, because the instances I have mentioned had 
something of jiecessity in them, from my youth, inexperi- 
ence, and the knavery of others. I had therefore a toler- 
able character to begin the world with ; I valued it prop- 
erly, and detcrmin'd to preserve it. 

We had not been long return'd to Philadelphia before 
the new types arriv'd from London. We settled with 
Keimer, and left him by his consent before he heard of it. 
We found a house to hire near the market, and took it. 
To lessen the rent, which was then but twenty -four 



62 FRANKLIN 

pounds a year, tho' I have since known it to let for 
seventy, wc took in Thomas Godfrey, a gk\zier, and his 
family, who were to pay a considerable part of it to us, 
and we to board with them. We had scarce opened our 
letters and put our press in order, before George House, 
an acquaintance of mine, brought a countryman to us, 
whom he had met in the street inquiring for a printer. 
All our cash was now expended in the variety of particu- 
lars we had been obliged to procure, and this country- 
man's five shillings, being our first-fruits, and coming so 
seasonably, gave me more pleasure than any crown I have 
since earned ; and the gratitude I felt toward House has 
made me often more ready than perhaps 1 should other- 
wise have been to assist young beginners. 

There are croakers in every country, always boding 
its ruin. Such a one then lived in Philadelphia ; a person 
of note, an elderly man, with a wise look and a very grave 
manner of speaking; his name was Samuel Mickle. This 
gentleman, a stranger to me, stopt one day at my door, 
and asked me if 1 was the young man who bad lately 
opened a new printing-house. Being answered in the 
affirmative, he said he was sorry for me, because it was 
an expensive undertaking, and the expense would be lost; 
for Philadelphia was a sinking place, the people already 
half bankrupts, or near being so ; all appearances to the 
contrary, such as new buildings and the rise of rents, be- 
ing to his certain knowledge fallacious ; for they were, in 
fact, among the things that would soon ruin us. And he 
gave me such a detail of misfortunes now existing, or that 
were soon to exist, that he left me half melancholy. Had 
I known him before I engaged in this business, probably 
I never should have done it. This man continued to live 
in this decaying place, and to declaim in the same strain, 
refusing for many years to buy a house there, because all 
was going to destruction ; and at last I had the pleasure 
of seeing him give five times as much for one as he might 
have bought it for when he first began his croaking. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



63 



I should have mentioned before, that, in the autumn of 
the preceding year, I had form'd most of my ingenious 
acquaintance into a club of mutual improvement, which 
we called the Junto; we met on Friday evenings. The 
rules that I drew up required that every member, in his 
turn, should produce one or more queries on any point of 
Morals, Politics, or Natural Philosophy, to be discuss'd 
by the company ; and once in three months produce and 
read an essay of his own writing, on any subject he 
pleased. Our debates were to be under the direction of 
a president, and to be conducted in the sincere spirit of 
inquiry after truth, without fondness for dispute, or desire 
of victory ; and, to prevent warmth, all expressions of 
positiveness in opinions, or direct contradiction, were 
after some time made contraband, and prohibited under 
small pecuniary penalties. 

The first members were Joseph Breintnal, a copyer of 
deeds for the scriveners, a good-natur'd, friendly, middle- 
ag'd man, a great lover of poetry, reading all he could 
meet with, and writing some that was tolerable ; very in- 
genious in many little Nicknackeries, and of sensible con- 
versation. 

Thomas Godfrey, a self-taught mathematician, great in 
his way, and afterward inventor of what is now called 
Hadley's Quadrant. But he knew little out of his way, 
and was not a pleasing companion ; as, like most great 
mathematicians I have met with, he expected universal 
precision in every thing said, or was for ever denying or 
distinguishing upon trifles, to the disturbance of all con- 
versation. He soon left us. 

Nicholas Scull, a surveyor, afterward surveyor-gen- 
eral, who lov'd books, and sometimes made a few verses. 

William Parsons, bred a shoemaker, but, loving read- 
ing, had acquir'd a considerable share of mathematics, 
which he first studied with a view to astrology, that 
he afterwards laught at it. He also became surveyor- 
general. 



C),y FRANKLIN 

William Mnn^rid^e, a ji^incr, a nu)st cx(;uisito tnc- 
chanic, aiul a suliil, siMisihlc man. 

llui;h Morcditli, SlopluMi Totls, ami (u'()r«;c Webb I 
l)a\ c" iliaiaottMiz'd before. 

Robert (irace, a youn^ j^entleman of some fortune, 
j^I-eiieroiis, lively, aiul witty; a Kn'er of pimniiii;- and of his 
trieiuls. 

And William Coleman, then a merchant's clerk, about 
my ai;i\ who had the coolest, clearest head, the best heart, 
and the exaitest morals of almost any man I ever met 
with, lie b(Hame allerwards a merchant of ji^reat note, 
and one of our provincial judges. Our friendship con- 
tinued without interruption to his death, ujuvai-d of forty 
yi^us ; and thei'lub c-ontinued almost as loui^, and was the 
bi'st school ol philosophy, morality, ami iiolitics that then 
existtnl in tlu- province; for our ipieries, which were reail 
tlic wi'ck prcrcdiiii;- theii" discussion, juit us ujuni readinj;- 
with attention upon the several subjects, that we mii;ht 
sjH'ak mon^ to the jnirpose; anil hcie. too, we acipiircil 
better habils ot i-ouviMsation,evei\- thin^- beini;- studicil in 
our rules which mii;ht prevent our ilis^ustins; each other, 
b'rom luMU'c the long continuance of the club, which I 
shall havi^ frci]uiMit cK\Msion to speaU of further hereafter. 

Hut my giviui;- this account of it here is to show some- 
thing of the interest I hail, every one i^f these exerting 
themselves in leiommendiug business to us. Breintnal 
particularly procur'd us from the Quakers the printing 
forty sheets of their history, the rest being to be done bv 
Keimer ; and upon this we work'd exceedingly hard, for 
the price was low. It was a folio, pro patria size, in pica, 
with long primer notes. 1 compos'd <)f it a sheet a day, 
and Meredith worked it ofT at press; it was often eleven 
at night, and sometimes later, before 1 had finished my 
distribution for the next day's work, for the little jobbs 
sent in bv our other friends now and then put us back. 
But so dcfermiuM 1 was to coutiiuic doing a sheet a day 
of the folio, that one night, when, having impos'd my 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 65 

forms, I tlioiiji^ht my day's work over, one of tliom by 
accident was broken, and two paj^es reduced to |>i, I 
immediately distributed and compos'd it over aj^ain be- 
fore I went to bed ; and this influstry, visible to our 
neighbors, began to give us character and credit; par- 
ticularly, 1 was told, that mention being made of the new 
printiiig-ofTicc at the merchants' livery-night club, the 
general opinion was that it must fail, there being already 
two printers in the place, Keimer and iiradford ; but Dr. 
Baird (whom you and 1 saw many years after at his native 
place, St. Andrew's in Scotland) gave a contrary opinion : 
"For the industry of that Franklin," says he, " is supe- 
rior to any thing I ever saw of the kind ; I see him still 
at work when I go home from club, and he is at work 
again before his neighbors arc out of bed." This struck 
the rest, and we so(jn after had offers frf;m one of tlicm to 
supply us with stationery; but as yet we did not chuse 
to engage in sh(jp business. 

I mcntif)n this industry the more particularly and the 
more freely, tho' it seems to be talking in my own praise, 
that those of my pfjstcrity, who shall read it, may know 
the use of that virtue, wiien they see its effects in my 
favour throughout this relation. 

George Webb, who had found a female friend that 
lent him wherewith to purchase liis time of Keimer, now 
came to offer himself as a journeyman to us. We could 
not then imploy him ; but I foolishly let him know as a 
secret that I soon intended to begin a newspaper, and 
might then have work for him. My hopes of success, as 
1 told him, were founded on this, that the then only news- 
paper, printed by Bradford, was a paltry thing, wretch- 
edly manag'd, no way entertaining, and yet was prrjlitablc 
to him ; 1 therefore thought a good paper would scarcely 
fail of good encouragement. I recpiested Webb not to 
menticjn it; but he toUl it to Keimer, who immediately, 
to be beforehand with mc, published proposals for print- 
ing one himself, on which Webb was to be employ'd. I 
5 



e(> FRANKLIN 

resented this ; and, to counteract them, as I could not yet 
begin our paper, I wrote several pieces of entertainment 
for Bradford's paper, under the title of the Busy Body, 
which Breintnal continu'd some months. By this means 
the attention of the publick was fixed on that paper, and 
Keimer's proposals, which we burlesqu'd and ridicul'd, 
were disregarded. He began his paper, however, and, 
after carrying it on three quarters of a year, with at 
most only ninety subscribers, he offer'd it to me for a 
trifle ; and I, having been ready some time to go on with 
it, took it in hand directly ; and it prov'd in a few years 
extremely profitable to me. 

I perceive that I am apt to speak in the singular num- 
ber, though our partnership still continu'd ; the reason 
may be that, in fact, the whole management of the busi- 
ness lay upon me. Meredith was no compositor, a poor 
pressman, and seldom sober. My friends lamented my 
connection with him, but I was to make the best of it. 

Our first papers made a quite different appearance 
from any before in the province ; a better type, and 
better printed ; but some spirited remarks of my writing, 
on the dispute then going on between Governor Burnet 
and the Massachusetts Assembly, struck the principal 
people, occasioned the paper and the manager of it to be 
much talk'd of, and in a few weeks brought them all to 
be our subscribers. 

Their example was follow'd by many, and our number 
went on growing continually. This was one of the first 
good effects of my having learnt a little to scribble ; an- 
other was, that the leading men, seeing a newspaper now 
in the hands of one who could also handle a pen, thought 
it convenient to oblige and encourage me. Bradford still 
printed the votes, and laws, and other publick business. 
He had printed an address of the House to the governor, 
in a coarse, blundering manner; we reprinted it elegantly 
and correctly, and sent one to every member. They were 
sensible of the difference : it strengthened the hands of 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY ^J 

our friends in the House, and they voted us their printers 
for the year ensuing. 

Among my friends in the House I must not forget Mr. 
Hamilton, before mentioned, who was then returned from 
England, and had a seat in it. He interested himself for 
me strongly in that instance, as he did in many others 
afterward, continuing his patronage till his death.' 

Mr. Vernon, about this time, put me in mind of the 
debt I ow'd him, but did not press me. I wrote him an 
ingenuous letter of acknowledgment, crav'd his forbear- 
ance a little longer, which he allow'd me, and as soon as I 
was able, I paid the principal with interest, and many 
thanks ; so that erratum was in some degree corrected. 

But now another difficulty came upon me which I had 
never the least reason to expect. Mr. Meredith's father, 
who was to have paid for our printing-house, according to 
the expectations given me, was able to advance only one 
hundred pounds currency, which had been paid ; and a 
hundred more was due to the merchant, who grew impa- 
tient, and su'd us all. We gave bail, but saw that, if the 
money could not be rais'd in time, the suit must soon come 
to a judgment and execution, and our hopeful prospects 
must, with us, be ruined, as the press and letters must be 
sold for payment, perhaps at half price. 

In this distress two true friends, whose kindness I have 
never forgotten, nor ever shall forget while I can remem- 
ber any thing, came to me separately, unknown to each 
other, and, without any application from me, offering each 
of them to advance me all the money that should be nec- 
essary to enable me to take the whole business upon my- 
self, if that should be practicable ; but they did not like 
my continuing the partnership with Meredith, who, as 
they said, was often seen drunk in the streets, and playing 
at low games in alehouses, much to our discredit. These 
two friends were William Coleman and Robert Grace. I 
told them I could not propose a separation while any 

' I got his son once ^^500. 



68 FRANKLIN 

prospect rcmain'd of the Merediths' fulfilling^ their part 
of our agreement, because I thought mjself imder great 
obligations to them for what they had done, and would do 
if they could ; but, if they finally fail'd in their perform- 
ance, and our partnership must be dissolv'd, I should then 
think myself at liberty to accept the assistance of my 
friends. 

Thus the matter rested for some time, when I said to 
my partner, " Perhaps your father is dissatisfied at the 
part you have undertaken in this aflair of ours, and is un- 
willing to advance for you and me what he would for you 
alone. If that is the case, tell me, and I will resign the 
whole to you, and go about my business." " No," said he, 
"my father has really been disappointed, and is really un- 
able ; and I am unwilling to distress him farther. I see 
this is a business I am nt>t fit for. I w\as bred a farmer, 
and it was a folly in me to come to town, and put myself, 
at thirty years of age, an apprentice to learn a new trade. 
Many of our Welsh people are going to settle in North 
Carolina, where land is cheap. I am inclin'd to go with 
them, and follow my old employment. You may find 
friends to assist 3'ou. If you will take the debts of the 
company upon you ; return to my father the hundred 
pound he has advanced; pay my little personal debts, and 
give me thirty pounds and a new saddle, I will relinquish 
the partnership, and leave the whole in your hands." I 
agreed to this proposal ; it was drawn up in writing, 
sign'd, and seal'd immediately. I gave him what he de- 
manded, and he w^ent soon after to Carolina, from whence 
he sent me next year two long letters, containing the best 
account that had been given of that country, the climate, 
the soil, husbandry, etc., for in those matters he was very 
judicious. I printed them in the papers, and they gave 
great satisfaction to the publick. 

As soon as he was gone, 1 recurr'd to my two friends ; 
and because I would not give an unkind preference to 
either, I took half of what each had otiered and I wanted 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 69 

of one, and half of the other ; paid off the company's 
debts, and went on with the business in my own name, 
advertising that the partnersfiij) was dissolved. I think 
this was in or about the year 1729. 

About this time there was a cry among the people for 
more paper money, only fifteen thousand pounds being 
extant in the province, and that soon to be sunk. The 
wealthy inhabitants oppos'd any addition, being against 
all paper currency, from an apprehension that it would 
depreciate, as it had done in New England, to the preju- 
dice of all creditors. We had discuss'd this point in our 
Junto, where I was on the side of an addition, being per- 
suaded that the first small sum struck in 1723 had done 
much good by increasing the trade, employment and 
number of inhabitants in the province, since I now saw 
all the old houses inhabited, and many new ones building: 
whereas I remembered well, that when I first walk'd about 
the streets of Philadelphia, eating my roll, I saw most of 
the houses in Walnut-street, between Second and Front 
streets, with bills on their doors, " To be let " ; and many 
likewise in Chestnut-street and other streets, which made 
me then think the inhabitants of the city were deserting 
it one after another. 

Our debates possess'd me so fully of the subject, that 
I wrote and printed an anonymous pamphlet on it, enti- 
tled " The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency." 
It was well receiv'd by the common people in general; 
but the rich men dislik'd it, for it increas'd and strcngth- 
en'd the clamor for more money, and they happening to 
have no writers among them that were able to answer it, 
their opposition slacken'd, and the point was carried by a 
majority in the House. My friends there, who conceiv'd 
I had been of some service, thought fit to reward me by 
employing me in printing the money ; a very profitable 
jobb and a great help to me. This was another advantage 
gain'd by my being able to write. 

The utility of this currency became by time and expe- 



70 



FRANKLIN 



rience so evident as never afterwards to be much disputed ; 
so that it grew soon to fifty-five thousand pounds, and in 
1739 to eighty thousand pounds, since which it arose dur- 
ing war to upwards of three hundred and fifty thousand 
pounds, trade, building, and inhabitants all the while 
increasing, tho' I now think there are limits beyond 
which the quantity may be hurtful. 

I soon after obtain'd, thro* my friend Hamilton, the 
printing of the Newcastle paper money, another profit- 
able jobb as I then thought it; small things appearing 
great to those in small circumstances ; and these, to me, 
were really great advantages, as they were great encour- 
agements. He procured for me, also, the printing of the 
laws and votes of that government, which continu'd in my 
hands as long as I follow'd the business. 

I now open'd a little stationer's shop. I had in it 
blanks of all sorts, the correctest that ever appear'd 
among us, being assisted in that by my friend Breintnal. 
I had also paper, parchment, chapmen's books, etc. One 
Whitemash, a compositor I had known in London, an ex- 
cellent workman, now came to me, and work'd with me 
constantly and diligently ; and I took an apprentice, the 
son of Aquila Rose. 

I began now gradually to pay off the debt I was under 
for the printing-house. In order to secure my credit and 
character as a tradesman, I took care not only to be in 
rrrtZ/Aj' industrious and frugal, but to avoid all appearances 
to the contrary. I drest plainly ; I was seen at no places 
of idle diversion. I never went out a fishing or shooting; 
a book, indeed, sometimes debauch'd me from my work, 
but that was seldom, snug, and gave no scandal; and, to 
show that I was not above my business, I sometimes 
brought home the paper I purchas'd at the stores thro' 
the streets on a wheelbarrow. Thus being esteem'd an 
industrious, thriving young man, and paying duly for 
what I bought, the merchants who imported stationery 
solicited my custom ; others proposed supplying me with 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 7 1 

books, and I went on swimmingly. In the mean time, 
Keimcr's credit and business declining daily, he was at 
last forc'd to sell his printing-house to satisfy his cred- 
itors. He went to Barbadoes, and there lived some years 
in very poor circumstances. 

His apprentice, David Harry, whom I had instructed 
while I work'd with him, set up in his place at Philadel- 
phia, having bought Iris materials. I was at first appre- 
hensive of a powerful rival in Harry, as his friends were 
very able, and had a good deal of interest. 1 therefore 
propos'd a partnership to him, which he, fortunately for 
me, rejected with scorn. He was very proud, dress'd like 
a gentleman, liv'd expensively, took much diversion and 
pleasure abroad, ran in debt, and neglected his business; 
upon which, all business left him ; and, finding nothing 
to do, he follow'd Kcimer to Barbadoes, taking the 
printing-house with him. There this apprentice em- 
ploy 'd his former master as a journeyman ; they quarrel'd 
often; Harry went continually behindhand, and at length 
was forc'd to sell his types and return to his country 
work in Pensilvania. The person that bought them 
employ 'd Keimer to use them, but in a few years he 
died. 

There remained now no competitor with me at Phila- 
delphia but the old one, Bradford ; who was rich and 
easy, did a little printing now and then by straggling 
hands, but was not very anxious about the business. 
However, as he kept the post-office, it was imagined he 
had better opportunities of obtaining news ; his paper was 
thought a better distributer of advertisements than mine, 
and therefore had many more, which was a profitable 
thing to him, and a disadvantage to me ; for, tho' I did 
indeed receive and send papers by the post, yet the pub- 
lick opinion was otherwise, for what I did send was by 
bribing the riders, who took them privately, Bradford be- 
ing unkind enough to forbid it, which occasion'd some 
resentment on my part; and I thought so meanly of him 



72 



FRANKLIN 



for it, that, when I afterward came into his situation, I 
took care never to imitate it. 

I had hitherto continu'd to board with Godfrey, who 
lived in part of my house with his wife and children, and 
had one side of the shop for his glazier's business, tho' he 
worked little, being always absorbed in his mathematics. 
Mrs. Godfrey projected a match for me with a relation's 
daughter, took opportunities of bringing us often together, 
till a serious courtship on my part ensu'd, the girl being 
in herself very deserving. The old folks encourag'd me 
by continual invitations to supper, and by leaving us to- 
gether, till at length it was time to explain. Mrs. God- 
frey manag'd our little treaty. I let her know that I ex- 
pected as much money with their daughter as would pay 
off my remaining debt for the printing-house, which I 
believe was not then above a hundred pounds. She 
brought me word they had no such sum to spare ; I said 
they might mortgage their house in the loan-office. The 
answer to this, after some days, was, that they did not 
approve the match ; that, on inquiry of Bradford, they 
had been inform'd the printing business was not a profit- 
able one ; the types would soon be worn out, and more 
wanted ; that S. Keimer and D. Harry had failed one 
after the other, and I should probably soon follow them ; 
and, therefore, I was forbidden the house, and the daugh- 
ter shut up. 

Whether this was a real change of sentiment or only 
artifice, on a supposition of our being too far engaged in 
affection to retract, and therefore that we should steal a 
marriage, which would leave them at liberty to give or 
withhold what they pleas'd, I know not ; but I suspected 
the latter, resented it, and went no more. Mrs. Godfrey 
brought me afterward some more favorable accounts of 
their disposition, and would have drawn me on again ; 
but I declared absolutely my resolution to have nothing 
more to do with that family. This was resented by the 
Godfreys ; we differ'd, and they removed, leaving me 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



73 



the whole house, and I resolved to take no more in- 
mates. 

But this affair having turned my thoughts to marriage, 
I look'd round me and made overtures of acquaintance 
in other places ; but soon found that, the business of a 
printer being generally thought a poor one, I was not to 
expect money with a wife, unless with such a one as I 
should not otherwise think agreeable. In the mean time, 
that hard-to-be-governed passion of youth hurried me fre- 
quently into intrigues with low women that fell in my 
way, which were attended with some expense and great 
inconvenience, besides a continual risque to my health by 
a distemper which of all things I dreaded, though by great 
good luck I escaped it. A friendly correspondence as 
neighbors and old acquaintances had continued between 
me and Mrs. Read's family, who all had a regard for me 
from the time of my first lodging in their house. I was 
often invited there and consulted in their affairs, wherein 
I sometimes was of service. I piti'd poor Miss Read's 
unfortunate situation, who was generally dejected, sel- 
dom cheerful, and avoided company. I considered my 
giddiness and inconstancy when in London as in a great 
degree the cause of her unhappiness, tho' the mother was 
good enough to think the fault more her own than mine, 
as she had prevented our marrying before I went thither, 
and persuaded the other match in my absence. Our mu- 
tual affection was revived, but there were now great ob- 
jections to our union. The match was indeed looked 
upon as invalid, a preceding wife being said to be living 
in England ; but this could not easily be prov'd, because 
of the distance ; and, tho' there was a report of his death, 
it was not certain. Then, tho' it should be true, he had 
left many debts, which his successor might be call'd upon 
to pay. We ventured, however, over all these difficul- 
ties, and I took her to wife, September ist, 1730. None 
of the inconveniences happened that we had apprehended ; 
she proved a good and faithful helpmate, assisted me 



74 



FRANKLIN 



much by attending the shop ; we throve together, and 
have ever mutually endeavor'd to make each other happy. 
Thus I corrected that great erratum as well as I could. 

About this time, our club meeting, not at a tavern, but 
in a little room of Mr. Grace's, set apart for that purpose, 
a proposition was made by me, that, since our books were 
often referr'd to in our disquisitions upon the queries, it 
might be convenient to us to have them altogether where 
we met, that upon occasion they might be consulted ; 
and by thus clubbing our books to a common library, we 
should, while we lik'd to keep them together, have each 
of us the advantage of using the books of all the other 
members, which would be nearly as beneficial as if each 
owned the whole. It was lik'd and agreed to, and we 
iill'd one end of the room with such books as we could 
best spare. The number was not so great as we expected ; 
and tho' they had been of great use, yet some inconven- 
iences occurring for want of due care of them, the collec- 
tion, after about a year, was separated, and each took his 
books home again. 

And now I set on foot my first project of a public na- 
ture, that for a subscription library. I drew up the pro- 
posals, got them put into form by our great scrivener, 
Brockden, and, by the help of my friends in the Junto, 
procured fifty subscribers of forty shillings each to begin 
with, and ten shillings a year for fifty years, the term our 
company was to continue. We afterwards obtain'd a 
charter, the company being increased to one hundred : 
this was the mother of all the North American subscrip- 
tion libraries, now so numerous. It is become a great 
thing itself, and continually increasing. These libraries 
have improved the general conversation of the Ameri- 
cans, made the common tradesmen and farmers as intelli- 
gent as most gentlemen from other countries, and perhaps 
have contributed in some degree to the stand so generally 
made throughout the colonies in defence of their privi- 
leges. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 75 

Mem". Thus far was written with the intention ex- 
press'd in the beginning and therefore contains several 
little family anecdotes of no importance to others. What 
follows was written many years after in compliance with 
the advice contain'd in these letters, and accordingly in- 
tended for the public. The affairs of the Revolution occa- 
sion'd the interruption. 

Letter from Mr. Abel James, with Notes of my Life 
{received in Paris). 

" My Dear and Honored Friend: I have often been 
desirous of writing to thee, but could not be reconciled to 
the thought, that the letter might fall into the hands of 
the British, lest some printer or busy-body should publish 
some part of the contents, and give our friend pain, and 
myself censure. 

" Some time since there fell into my hands, to my 
great joy, about twenty-three sheets in thy own hand- 
writing, containing an account of the parentage and life 
of thyself, directed to thy son, ending in the year 1730, 
with which there were notes, likewise in thy writing ; a 
copy of which I inclose, in hopes it may be a means, if 
thou continued it up to a later period, that the first and 
latter part may be put together ; and if it is not yet con- 
tinued, I hope thee will not delay it. Life is uncertain, 
as the preacher tells us; and what will the world say if 
kind, humane, and benevolent Ben. Franklin should leave 
his friends and the world deprived of so pleasing and 
profitable a work ; a work which would be useful and 
entertaining not only to a few, but to millions? The in- 
fluence writings under that class have on the minds of 
youth is very great, and has nowhere appeared to me so 
plain, as in our public friend's journals. It almost insen- 
sibly leads the youth into the resolution of endeavoring 
to become as good and eminent as the journalist. Should 
thine, for instance, when published (and I think it could 
not fail of it), lead the youth to equal the industry and 



76 FRANKLIN 

temperance of thy early youth, what a blessing with that 
class would such a work be ! I know of no character 
living-, nor many of them put together, who has so much 
in his power as thyself to promote a greater spirit of in- 
dustry and early attention to business, frugality, and tem- 
perance with the American youth. Not that I think the 
work would have no other merit and use in the world, 
far from it ; but the first is of such vast importance that I 
know nothing that can equal it." 

The foregoing letter and the minutes accompanying 
it being shown to a friend, I received from him the fol- 
lowing: 

Letter from Mr. Benjamm Vaughan. 

" Paris, /anuary 2^, 1783. 

** My Dearest Sir : When I had read over your 
sheets of minutes of the principal incidents of your life, 
recovered for you by your Quaker acquaintance, I told 
you I would send you a letter expressing my reasons 
why I thought it would be useful to complete and pub- 
lish it as he desired. Various concerns have for some 
time past prevented this letter being written, and I do 
not know whether it was worth any expectation ; hap- 
pening to be at leisure, however, at present, I shall by 
writing, at least, interest and instruct myself; but as the 
terms I am inclined to use may tend to offend a person of 
your manners, I shall only tell you how I would address 
any other person, who was as good and as great as your- 
self, but less diffident. I would say to him. Sir, I solicit 
the history of your life from the following motives: Your 
history is so remarkable, that if you do not give it, some- 
body else will certainly give it ; and perhaps so as nearly 
to do as much harm, as your own management of the 
thing might do good. It will moreover present a table 
of the internal circumstances of your country, which will 
very much tend to invite to it settlers of virtuous and 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



77 



manly minds. And considering the eagerness with which 
such information is sought by them, and the extent of your 
reputation, I do not know of a more efficacious advertise- 
ment than your biography would give. All that has hap- 
pened to you is also connected with the detail of the man- 
ners and situation of a rising people ; and in this respect 
I do not think that the writings of Caesar and Tacitus can 
be more interesting to a true judge of human nature and 
society. But these, sir, are small reasons, in my opinion, 
compared with the chance which your life will give for 
the forming of future great men; and in conjunction with 
your Art of Virtue (which you design to publish) of im- 
proving the features of private character, and conse- 
quently of aiding all happiness, both public and domestic. 
The two works I allude to, sir, will in particular give a 
noble rule and example of self-education. School and 
other education constantly proceed upon false principles, 
and show a clumsy apparatus pointed at a false mark; 
but your apparatus is simple, and the mark a true one; 
and while parents and young persons are left destitute of 
other just means of estimating and becoming prepared 
for a reasonable course in life, your discovery that the 
thing is in many a man's private power, will be invaluable ! 
Influence upon the private character, late in life, is not 
only an influence late in life, but a weak influence. It is 
in youth that we plant our chief habits and prejudices ; it 
is in youth that we take our party as to profession, pur- 
suits and matrimony. In youth, therefore, the turn is 
given ; in youth the education even of the next genera- 
tion is given ; in youth the private and public character 
is determined ; and the term of life extending but from 
youth to age, life ought to begin well from youth, and 
more especially before we take our party as to our prin- 
cipal objects. But your biography will not merel}'' teach 
self-education, but the education of a wise man ; and the 
wisest man will receive lights and improve his progress, 
by seeing detailed the conduct of another wise man. 



78 FRANKLIN 

And why are weaker men to be deprived of such helps, 
when we see our race has been blundering on in the 
dark, almost without a guide in this particular, from the 
farthest trace of time ? Show then, sir, how much is 
to be done, both to sons and fathers; and invite all 
wise men to become like yourself, and other men to 
become wise. When we see how cruel statesmen and 
warriors can be to the human race, and how absurd dis- 
tinguished men can be to their acquaintance, it will be 
instructive to observe the instances multiply of pacific, 
acquiescing manners ; and to find how compatible it is 
to be great and domestic, enviable and yet good-hu- 
mored. 

" The little private incidents which you will also have 
to relate will have considerable use, as we want, above all 
things, rules of prudence in ordinary affairs ; and it will 
be curious to see how you have acted in these. It will 
be so far a sort of key to life, and explain many things 
that all men ought to have once explained to them, to 
give them a chance of becoming wise by foresight. The 
nearest thing to having experience of one's own is to have 
other people's affairs brought before us in a shape that is 
interesting ; this is sure to happen from your pen ; our 
affairs and management will have an air of simplicity or 
importance that will not fail to strike ; and I am con- 
vinced you have conducted them with as much origi- 
nality as if you had been conducting discussions in politics 
or philosophv; and what more worthy of experiments 
and system (its importance and its errors considered) than 
human life? 

"Some men have been virtuous blindly, others have 
speculated fantastically, and others have been shrewd to 
bad purposes ; but you, sir, I am sure, will give under 
your hand nothing but what is at the same moment wise, 
practical and good. Your account of yourself (for I sup- 
pose the parallel I am drawing for Dr. Franklin will hold 
not only in point of character, but of private history) will 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



79 



show that you arc ashamed of no ori;,nn ; a thing the more 
important, as you pnjve how little necessary all orig-in is 
to happiness, virtue, or greatness. As uo end likewise 
happens without a means, so we shall find, sir, that even 
you yourself framed a plan by which you became consid- 
erable ; but at the same time we may see that though the 
event is flattering, the means arc as simple as wisdom 
could make them ; that is, depending up(jn nature, virtue, 
thought, and habit. Another tiling demonstrated will be 
the propriety of every man's waiting for his time for 
appearing up(m the stage of the world. i)ur sensations 
being very much fixed to the moment, wc are apt to for- 
get that more moments are to follow the first, and conse- 
quently that man should arrange his conduct so as to suit 
the whole of a life. Your attribution appears to have 
been applied to your life, and the passing moments of it 
have been enlivened with content and enjoyment, instead 
of being tormented with foolish impatience or regrets. 
Such a conduct is easy for those who make virtue and 
themselves in countenance by examples of other truly 
great men, of whom patience is so often the characteristic. 
Your Quaker correspondent, sir (for here again I will sup- 
pose the subject of my letter resembling Dr. Franklin), 
praised your frugality, diligence and temperance, which 
he considered as a pattern for all youth ; but it is singular 
that he should have forgotten your modesty and your 
disinterestedness, without which you never could have 
waited for your advancement, or found your situation in 
the mean time comfortable ; which is a strong lesson to 
show the poverty of glory and the importance of regulat- 
ing our minds. If this correspondent had known the na- 
ture of your reputation as well as I do, he would have 
said, Your former writings and measures would secure 
attention to your Biography, and Art of Virtue; and 
your Biography and Art of Virtue, in return, would 
secure attention to them. This is an advantage attendant 
upon a various character, and which brings all that be- 



8o FRANKLIN 

longs to it into greater play ; and it is the more useful, as 
perhaps more persons are at a loss for the means of im- 
proving their minds and characters, than they are for the 
time or the inclination to do it. But there is one conclud- 
ing reflection, sir, that will shew the use of your life as a 
mere piece of biography. This style of writing seems a 
little gone out of vogue, and yet it is a very useful one ; 
and your specimen of it may be particularly serviceable, 
as it will make a subject of comparison with the lives of 
various public cut-throats and intriguers, and with absurd 
monastic self-tormenters or vain literary triflers. If it en- 
courages more writings of the same kind with your own, 
and induces more men to spend lives fit to be written, it 
will be worth all Plutarch's " Lives " put together. But 
being tired of figuring to myself a character of which 
every feature suits only one man in the world, without 
giving him the praise of it, I shall end my letter, my dear 
Dr. Franklin, with a personal application to your proper 
self. I am earnestly desirous, then, my dear sir, that you 
should let the world into the traits of your genuine char- 
acter, as civil broils may otherwise tend to disguise or 
traduce it. Considering your great age, the caution of 
your character, and your peculiar style of thinking, it is 
not likely that any one besides yourself can be sufficiently 
master of the facts of your life, or the intentions of your 
mind. Besides all this, the immense revolution of the 
present period, will necessarily turn our attention towards 
the author of it, and when virtuous principles have been 
pretended in it, it will be highly important to shew that 
such have really influenced ; and, as your own character 
will be the principal one to receive a scrutiny, it is proper 
(even for its effects upon your vast and rising country, as 
well as upon England and upon Europe) that it should 
stand respectable and eternal. For the furtherance of 
human happiness, I have always maintained that it is 
necessary to prove that man is not even at present a 
vicious and detestable animal ; and still more to prove 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 8l 

that good management may greatly amend him ; and it is 
for much the same reason, that I am anxious to see the 
opinion established, that there are fair characters existing 
among the individuals of the race ; for the moment that 
all men, without exception, shall be conceived abandoned, 
good people will cease efforts deemed to be hopeless, and 
perhaps think of taking their share in the scramble of 
life, or at least of making it comfortable principally for 
themselves. Take then, my dear sir, this work most 
speedily into hand : shew yourself good as you are good ; 
temperate as you are temperate ; and above all things 
prove yourself as one, who from your infancy have loved 
justice, liberty and concord, in a way that has made it 
natural and consistent for you to have acted, as we have 
seen you act in the last seventeen years of your life. Let 
Englishmen be made not only to respect, but even to love 
you. When they think well of individuals in your native 
country, they will go nearer to thinking well of your 
country ; and when your countrymen see themselves well 
thought of by Englishmen, they will go nearer to think- 
ing well of England. Extend your views even further ; 
do not stop at those who speak the English tongue, but 
after having settled so many points in nature and politics, 
think of bettering the whole race of men. As I have not 
read any part of the life in question, but know only the 
character that lived it, I write somewhat at hazard. I am 
sure, however, that the life and the treatise I allude to (on 
the Art of Virtue) will necessarily fulfil the chief of my 
expectations ; and still more so if you take up the measure 
of suiting these performances to the several views above 
stated. Should they even prove unsuccessful in all that a 
sanguine admirer of yours hopes from them, you will at 
least have framed pieces to interest the human mind ; and 
whoever gives a feeling of pleasure that is innocent to 
man, has added so much to the fair side of a life other- 
wise too much darkened by anxiety and too much injured 
by pain. In the hope, therefore, that you will listen to 
6 



82 KKANKI.IN 

tlu> prayer :i(l(lr("ss("(l lo you in Ihis Icltci", I hc}^ to siih- 
S( rilx* HM'scll, luy dcaicsl sir, cic, etc., 

"Si<;iu-(1, Wv.u]. Vauciian." 



C'<>f//i//u,ifi(<n of thf Aiioittit <>/ »tr l.i/i', /'txun at Passyy 
tuiir rans, I'/St. 

\{ is some lime since I iceeiy'd (lie above letleis, hul T 
liaye heeii too l)usy till now lo lliink ol eoinplyiiij;- witli llio 
re«liiest I hey contain. It nui;"ht, too, be mnch better (Xowc: 
ii 1 wi'ic at home amonj;- my papers, wliiih wonUl aid 
luy nKMnoiy,anti lielp lo ascertain dales ; bnt my retnm 
beinj^" uncertain, and bavins; just now a Hi tie leisure, 
1 will endeavor to recollect and write ^vhat I can; il 
I live to j;('t home, it may there be corrected and im- 
provM. 

Not havin«;- anv copv here of what is already written, 
1 know not whether an account is {;iven ol the means I 
used lo establish the rhiladelj^hia public library, which, 
Irom a small benimiinj;*. is now l^-ctMue so considerable, 
thouj;h 1 leiuember lo have ct)me down to near the time 
ot tliat transaiMion (i7.>oV I will therefore bei^^in here 
with an aciiumt i>l it. which may be struik out it fouuil 
to have been abe.idy i;iven. 

At tiu" linn* 1 establishM myselt in remisvlvania, there 
was not a mnxl booksellei's slu)p in anv ot the colonies to 
the soiithward ol 1>osIimi. In New York and Thilad'a the 
printers wt*re indeed stationers; they sold only paper, 
etc.. .ilm.\n.us. ballads, and a lew common school-books. 
Those who lov'd readiui; were olili«i'd to send for their 
bt)oks Irom luii;lanil ; llie membiMS ol the Junti) hail each 
a lew. W'c had icMt (he alehmise. where we liist mtM. ami 
hiic'd a room ti> hoKl our club in. 1 proposed that wc 
should all ol us btini;- our boi^ks to that rooni. where they 
would ni>l only be icadv lo consult in oui" I'lMiierences, 
but beconu' a comuu>n benctit. e.u'h ol us bein^- at liberty 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 83 

to borrow such as he wish'd to read at home. This was 
accordiiij^Iy done, and for some time contented us. 

Finding^ the advantaj^e of this little collecti(jn, I pro- 
pos'd to render the benefit from books more common, 
by commencinjj^ a public subscription library. I drew a 
sketch of the plan and rules that would be necessary, and 
got a skilful conveyancer, Mr. Charles Brockden, to put 
the whole in form of articles of agreement to be sub- 
scribed, by which each subscriber engag'd to pay a cer- 
tain sum flown for the first purchase of books, and an an- 
nual contribution for increasing them. So few were the 
readers at that time in I'hiladelphia, and the majority of 
us so poor, that 1 was not able, with great industry, to 
find more than hlty persons, mostly young tradesmen, 
willing to pay down for this purpose forty shillings each, 
and ten shillings per rumum. On this little fund we be- 
gan. The books were; imported ; the library was opened 
one day in the week for lending to the subscribers, on 
their promissory notes to pay double the value if not duly 
returned. The institution soon manifested its utility, was 
imitated by other towns, and in other provinces. The 
libraries were augmented by donations ; reading became 
fashionable ; and our peo|)le, having no publick amuse- 
ments to divert their attention from study, became better 
acquainted with books, and in a few years were observ'd 
by strangers to be better instructed and more intelligent 
than people of the same rank generally are in other 
countries. 

When we were about to sign the above-mentioned 
articles, which were to be binding on us, our heirs, etc., 
for fifty years, Mr. Brockden, the scrivener, said to us, 
" You are young men, but it is scarcely probable that 
any of you will live to see the expiration of the term fix'd 
in the instrument." A number of us, however, are yet 
living ; but the instrument vv^as after a few years rendered 
null by a charter that incorporated and gave perpetuity 
to the company. 



84 FRANKLIN 

The objections and reluctances I met with in soliciting 
the subscriptions, made me soon feel the impropriety of 
presenting one's self as the proposer of any useful project, 
that might be suppos'd to raise one's reputation in the 
smallest degree above that of one's neighbors, when one 
has need of their assistance to accomplish that project. I 
therefore put myself as much as I could out of sight, and 
stated it as a scheme of a number of frie^ids, who had re- 
quested me to go about and propose it to such as they 
thought lovers of reading. In this way my affair went 
on more smoothly, and I ever after practis'd it on such 
occasions ; and, from my frequent successes, can heartily 
recommend it. The present little sacrifice of your vanity 
will afterwards be amply repaid. If it remains a while un- 
certain to whom the merit belongs, some one more vain 
than yourself will be encouraged to claim it, and then even 
envy will be disposed to do you justice by plucking those 
assumed feathers, and restoring them to their right 
owner. 

This library afforded me the means of improvement 
by constant study, for which I set apart an hour or two 
each day, and thus repair'd in some degree the loss of 
the learned education my father once intended for me. 
Reading was the only amusement I allow'd myself. I 
spent no time in taverns, games, or frolicks of any kind ; 
and my industry in my business continu'd as indefatigable 
as it was necessary. I was indebted for my printing- 
house ; I had a young family coming on ^o be educated, 
and I had to contend with for business two printers, who 
were established in the place before me. My circum- 
stances, however, grew daily easier. My original habits 
of frugality continuing, and my father having, among his 
instructions to me when a boy, frequently repeated a 
proverb of Solomon, " Seest thou a man diligent in his call- 
ing, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before 
mean men," I from thence considered industry as a means 
of obtaining wealth and distinction, which encourag'd me, 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 85 

tho' I did not think that I should ever literally stand before 
kings, which, however, has since happened ; for I have 
stood before ^t/^, and even had the honor of sitting down 
with one, the King of Denmark, to dinner. 

We have an English proverb that says, " He that would 
thrive, must ask his wifeT It was lucky for me that I had 
one as much dispos'd to industry and frugality as myself. 
She assisted me cheerfully in my business, folding and 
stitching pamphlets, tending shop, purchasing old linen 
rags for the paper-makers, etc., etc. We kept no idle 
servants, our table was plain and simple, our furniture of 
the cheapest. For instance, my breakfast was a long time 
bread and milk (no tea), and I ate it out of a twopenny 
earthen porringer, with a pewter spoon. But mark how 
luxury will enter families, and make a progress, in spite 
of principle : being call'd one morning to breakfast, I 
found it in a China bowl, with a spoon of silver ! They 
had been bought for me without my knowledge by my 
wife, and had cost her the enormous sum of three-and- 
twenty shillings, for which she had no other excuse or 
apology to make, but that she thought her husband de- 
serv'd a silver spoon and China bowl as well as any of his 
neighbors. This was the first appearance of plate and 
China in our house, which afterward, in a course of years, 
as our wealth increas'd, augmented gradually to several 
hundred pounds in value. 

I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian ; 
and tho' some of the dogmas of that persuasion, such as 
the eternal decrees of God, election, reprobation, etc., appeared 
to me unintelligible, others doubtful, and I early absented 
myself from the public assemblies of the sect, Sunday be- 
ing my studying day, I never was without some religious 
principles. I never doubted, for instance, the existence 
of the Deity ; that he made the world, and govern'd it by 
his Providence ; that the most acceptable service of God 
was the doing good to man ; that our souls are immortal ; 
and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded. 



86 FRANKLIN 

either here or hereafter. These I esteem'd the essentials 
of every religion ; and, being to be found in all religions 
we had in our country, I respected them all, tho' with 
different degrees of respect, as I found them more or less 
mix'd with other articles, which, without any tendency to 
inspire, promote, or confirm morality, serv'd principally 
to divide us, and make us unfriendly to one another. This 
respect to all, with an opinion that the worst had some 
good effects, induc'd me to avoid all discourse that might 
tend to lessen the good opinion another might have of his 
own religion ; and as our province increas'd in people, 
and new places of worship were continually wanted, and 
generally erected by voluntary contribution, my mite for 
such purpose, whatever might be the sect, was never 
refused. 

Tho' I seldom attended any public worship, I had still 
an opinion of its propriety, and of its utility when rightly 
conducted, and I regularly paid my annual subscription 
for the support of the only Presbyterian minister or meet- 
ing we had in Philadelphia. He us'd to visit me some- 
times as a friend, and admonish me to attend his adminis- 
trations, and I was now and then prevail'd on to do so, 
once for five Sundays successively. Had he been in my 
opinion a good preacher, perhaps I might have continued, 
notwithstanding the occasion I had for the Sunday's lei- 
sure in my course of study; but his discourses were chiefly 
either polemic arguments, or explications of the peculiar 
doctrines of our sect, and were all to me very dry, unin- 
teresting, and unedifying, since not a single moral princi- 
ple was inculcated or enforc'd, their aim seeming to be 
rather to make us Presbyterians than good citizens. 

At length he took for his text that verse of the fourth 
chapter of Philippians, " Finally, brethren, "whatsoever things 
are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, or of good report, if there 
be any virtue, or any praise, think on these things'* And I 
imagin'd, in a sermon on such a text, we could not miss of 
having some morality. But he confin'd himself to five 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 8/ 

points only, as meant by the apostle, viz.: i. Keeping 
holy the Sabbath day. 2. Being diligent in reading the 
holy Scriptures. 3. Attending duly the publick worship. 
4. Partaking of the Sacrament. 5. Paying a due respect 
to God's ministers. These might be all good things ; but, 
as they were not the kind of good things that I expected 
from that text, I despaired of ever meeting with them 
from any other, was disgusted, and attended his preach- 
ing no more. I had some years before compos'd a little 
Liturgy, or form of prayer, for my own private use (viz., 
in 1728), entitled Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion. I 
return'd to the use of this, and went no more to the pub- 
Hck assemblies. My conduct might be blameable, but I 
leave it, without attempting further to excuse it ; my 
present purpose being to relate facts, and not to make 
apologies for them. 

It was about this time I conceiv'd the bold and ardu- 
ous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wish'd to 
live without committing any fault at any time ; I would 
conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or 
company might lead me into. As I knew, or thought I 
knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why 1 
might not always do the one and avoid the other. But I 
soon found I had undertaken a task of more difficulty 
than I had imagined. While my care was employ 'd in 
guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by an- 
other ; habit took the advantage of inattention ; inclina- 
tion was sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded, 
at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was 
our interest to be completely virtuous was not sufficient 
to prevent our slipping ; and that the contrary habits 
must be broken, and good ones acquired and established, 
before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform 
rectitude of conduct. For this purpose I therefore con- 
trived the following method. 

In the various enumerations of the moral virtues I had 
met with in my reading, I found the catalogue more or 



88 FRANKLIN 

less numerous, as different writers included more or fewer 
ideas under the same name. Temperance, for example, 
was by some confined to eating and drinking, while by 
others it was extended to mean the moderating every 
other pleasure, appetite, inclination, or passion, bodily or 
mental, even to our avarice and ambition. I propos'd to 
myself, for the sake of clearness, to use rather more names, 
with fewer ideas annex'd to each, than a few names with 
more ideas ; and I included under thirteen names of vir- 
tues all that at that time occurr'd to me as necessary or 
desirable, and annexed to each a short precept, which fully 
express'd the extent I gave to its meaning. 

These names of virtues, with their precepts, were : 

I. Temperance. 
Eat not to dullness ; drink not to elevation. 

2. Silence. 

Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself ; 
avoid trifling conversation, 

3. Order. 

Let all your things have their places ; let each part of 
your business have its time. 

4. Resolution. 

Resolve to perform what you ought ; perform without 
fail what you resolve. 

5. Frugality. 

Make no expense but to do good to others or your- 
self ; i. e., waste nothing. 

6. Industry. 

Lose no time ; be always employ'd in something use- 
ful ; cut off all unnecessary actions. 



autobiography 89 

7. Sincerity. 

Use no hurtful deceit ; think innocently and justly ; 
and, if you speak, speak accordingly. 

8. Justice. 

Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the bene- 
fits that are your duty. 

9. Moderation. 

Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much 
as you think they deserve. 

10. Cleanliness. 

Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habita- 
tion. 

II. Tranquillity. 

Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common 
or unavoidable. 

12. Chastity. 

Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never 
to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or an- 
other's peace or reputation. 

13. Humility. 
Imitate Jesus and Socrates. 

My intention being to acquire the habitude of all these 
virtues, I judg'd it would be well not to distract my at- 
tention by attempting the whole at once, but to fix it on 
one of them at a time ; and, when I should be master of 
that, then to proceed to another, and so on, till I should 
have gone thro' the thirteen ; and, as the previous acqui- 
sition of some might facilitate the acquisition of certain 
others, I arrang'd them with that view, as they stand above. 



90 



FRANKLIN 



Temperance first, as it tends to procure that coolness and 
clearness of head, which is so necessary where constant 
vigilance was to be kept up, and guard maintained against 
the unremitting attraction of ancient habits, and the force 
of perpetual temptations. This being acquir'd and estab- 
lish'd, Silence would be more easy ; and my desire being 
to gain knowledge at the same time that I improv'd in 
virtue, and considering that in conversation it was ob- 
tain'd rather by the use of the ears than of the tongue, 
and therefore wishing to break a habit I was getting into 
of prattling, punning, and joking, which only made me 
acceptable to trifling company, I gave Silence the second 
place. This and the next, Order, I expected would allow 
me more time for attending to my project and my studies. 
Resolution, once become habitual, would keep me firm in 
my endeavors to obtain all the subsequent virtues ; Frii- 
gality and Industry freeing me from my remaining debt, 
and producing affluence and independence, would make 
more easy the practice of Sincerity and Justice, etc., etc. 
Conceiving then that, agreeably to the advice of Pythag- 
oras in his Golden Verses, daily examination would be 
necessary, I contrived the following method for conduct- 
ing that examination. 

I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for 
each of the virtues. I rul'd each page with red ink, so 
as to have seven columns, one for each day of the week, 
marking each column with a letter for the day. I cross'd 
these columns with thirteen red lines, marking the begin- 
ning of each line with the first letter of one of the virtues, 
on which line, and in its proper column, I might mark, by 
a little black spot, every fault I found upon examination 
to have been committed respecting that virtue upon that 
day. 

I determined to give a week's strict attention to each 
of the virtues successively. Thus, in the first week, my 
great guard was to avoid every the least offence against 
Temperance, leaving the other virtues to their ordinary 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

Form of the pages. 



91 



TEMPERANCE. 


EAT NOT TO DULLNESS ; 
DRINK NOT TO ELEVATION. 




S. 


M. 


T. 


W. 


T. 


F. 


S. 


T. 
















S. 


* 


♦ 




« 




» 




0. 


« « 


• 


♦ 




« 


» 


♦ 


R. 






* 






• 




F. 




* 






* 






I. 






« 










S. 
















J. 
















M. 
















C. 
















T. 
















C. 
















H. 

















chance, only marking every evening the faults of the day. 
Thus, if in the first week I could keep my first line, 
marked T, clear of spots, I suppos'd the habit of that 
virtue so much strengthen'd, and its opposite weaken'd, 
that I might venture extending my attention to include 
the next, and for the following week keep both lines clear 
of spots. Proceeding thus to the last, I could go thro' a 
course compleat in thirteen weeks, and four courses in a 
year. And like him who, having a garden to weed, does 
not attempt to eradicate all the bad herbs at once, which 
would exceed his reach and his strength, but works on 
one of the beds at a time, and, having accomplish'd the 
first, proceeds to a second, so I should have, I hoped, the 
encouraging pleasure of seeing on my pages the progress 
1 made in virtue, by clearing successively my lines of 



9-^ 



FRANKLIN 



their spots, till in the end. bv a nnniber of courses. I 
should he happy in viewing- a clean book, after a thirteen 
weeks' dailv examination. 

This my little book had for its motto these lines from 
Addison's " Cato : *' 

" Hero will I hold. If there's a power above us 
(^Aiul that there is. ;U1 nature cries aloud 
Thro' all her works). He nuist delight in virtue; 
And that which he deliglits in must be happy." 

Another from Cicero: 

•• O vitx rhilosophia dux ! O virtutum indagatrix expultrixque ntio- 
r\ini I Unus dies, bene et ex pneceptis tuis actus, peccanti immortaluali 

est antcponendus." 

Another from the Proverbs of Solomon, speaking- of 
^visdom or virtue : 

•' Length of days is in her right hand., and in her left hand riches and 
honour. Her ways .u-e ways of pleasantness, and .Ul her paths are 
peace." iii. 16, i~. 

And conceiving- God to be the fountain of wisdom. I 
thought it right and necessary to solicit his assistance for 
obtaining it; to this end 1 formed the following- little 
prayer, which was pretix'd to mv tables of examination, 
lor daily use. 

" O ponvrfml Goodness / boHnti/Hl Fatkfr / mtrctful Gm'd* / In- 
crfasf :'h m* tkat wisdom ti'kick d/scotsrrs my tru^s/ ift/tr^sf. 
Strrni^tif-H my r^solM/t\>ns to perform wkat tkat wisi/om <//.-/»j*Vj. 
AiV^/>/ my JtinJ oj^^vs to thy ct^fr chilJr^H as the ottfy return in my 

f\*s'er for thy contsHUiil J\it\*s4rs to me." 

1 used also sometimes a little prayer which I took 
from Thomson's "' rooms." viz.: 

•• Father of light and life, thou Gt.Hxl Supreme ! 
O leach n\e what is g\xxi ; teach me Thyself! 
Sa\*e me from folly, \~\nity. and >nce. 
Fn,in\ every low pursuit : aiid fill my soul 
With knowUxlgv. cv^nscious peace, and virtue pure; 
S^icred, subsi.mii;U. never-fading bliss! " 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



93 



The precept of Order reqiiiring that every fart of v/y 
business should Jiavc its allotted ti»ie, one pnge in my little 
book contain'd tiie folUnving' sciiemc of employ nicnt for 
the twenty-four hours of a natural day. 



Thk Morning. 
Quest I Oft. What good shall 
1 do this day ? 



8 

9 
lo 
II 



Rise, wash and addirss Pmv- 
crfitl Cnhhiuess / Contrive day's 
business, and take the resolution 
of the day ; prosecute the present 
study, and breakfast. 

Work. 



Noon. 



( 12 I Read, or overlook my ac- 

/ I \ counts, and dine. 



Evening. 
Question. What good have 
I done to-day ? 



Night. 



Work. 



Put things in their places. 
Supper. Music or diversion, or 
conversation. Examination of 
the day. 



Sleep. 



I enter'd upon the execution of this plan for self- 
examination, and continu'd it with occasional intermis- 
sions for some time. I was surpris'd to find myself so 
much fuller of faults than I had imagined ; but I had 
the satisfaction of seeing them diminish. To avoid the 
trouble of renewing now and then my little book, which, 
by scraping out the marks on the paper of old faults to 
make room for new ones in a new course, became full of 



g^ FRANKLIN 

holes, I tmnsferr'd my tables and precepts to the ivory 
leaves of a memorandum book, in which the lines were 
drawn with red ink, that made a durable stain, and on 
those lines I mark'd my faults with a black-lead pencil, 
which marks I could easily wipe out with a wet sponge. 
After a while I went thro' one course only in a year, and 
afterward only one in several years, till at length I 
omitted them entirely, being employ 'd in voyages and 
business abroad, with a multiplicity of affairs that inter- 
fered ; but I always carried my little book with me. 

My scheme of Order gave me the most trouble ; and 
I found that, tho' it might be practicable where a man's 
business was such as to leave him the disposition of his 
time, that of a journeyman printer, for instance, it was 
not possible to be exactly observed by a master, who 
must mix with the world, and often receive people of 
business at their own hours. On/t-r, too, with regard to 
places for things, papers, etc., I found extreamely difficult 
to acquire. I had not been early accustomed to it, and, 
having an exceeding good mcmorv, I was not so sensible 
of the inconvenience attending want of method. This 
article, therefore, cost me so much painful attention, and 
my faults in it vexed me so much, and I made so little 
progress in amendment, and had such frequent relapses, 
that I was almost ready to give up the attempt, and con- 
tent myself with a faulty character in that respect, like 
the man who, in buving an ax of a smith, mv neighbour, 
desired to have the whole of its surface as bright as the 
edge. The smith consented to grind it bright for him 
if he would turn the wheel; he turn'd. while the 
smith press'd the broad face of the ax hard and heavily 
on the stone, which made the turning of it very fatiguing. 
The man came every now and then from the wheel to see 
how the work went on, and at length would take his ax 
as it was, without farther grinding, " No," said the smith, 
" turn on, turn on ; we shall have it bright by-and-by ; as 
yet, it is only speckled." " Yes," says the man, " hit I 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



95 



think I like a speckled ax best." And I believe this may 
have been the case with many, who, having, for want of 
some such means as I employ 'd, found the difficulty of 
obtaining- good and breaking bad habits in other points 
of vice and virtue, have given up the struggle, and con- 
cluded that "^ speckled ax was best ; " for something, that 
pretended to be reason, was every now and then suggest- 
ing to me that such extream nicety as I exacted of myself 
might be a kind of foppery in morals, which, if it were 
known, would make me ridiculous; that a perfect char- 
acter might be attended with the inconvenience of being 
envied and hated ; and that a benevolent man should 
allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in coun- 
tenance. 

In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to 
Order; and now I am grown old, and my memory bad, I 
feel very sensibly the want of it. But, on the whole, tho' 
I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious 
of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the en- 
deavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise 
should have been if I had not attempted it ; as those who 
aim at perfect writing by imitating the engraved copies, 
tho' they never reach the wish'd-for excellence of those 
copies, their hand is mended by the endeavor, and is tol- 
erable while it continues fair and legible. 

It may be well my posterity should be informed that 
to this little artifice, with the blessing of God, their ances- 
tor ow'd the constant felicity of his life, down to his 79th 
year, in which this is written. What reverses may attend 
the remainder is in the hand of Providence ; but, if they 
arrive, the reflection on past happiness enjoy 'd ought to 
help his bearing them with more resignation. To Tem- 
perance he ascribes his long-continued health, and what 
is still left to him of a good constitution ; to Industry and 
Frugality, the early easiness of his circumstances and ac- 
quisition of his fortune, with all that knowledge that en- 
abled him to be a useful citizen, and obtained for him 



C)6 FRANKLIN 

some degree of reputation among: the learned ; to Sin- 
cerity and Justice, the confidence of his country, and the 
honorable employs it conferred upon him ; and to the joint 
influence of the whole mass of the virtues, even in the im- 
perfect state he was able to acquire them, all that evenness 
of temper, and that cheerfulness in conversation, ^vhich 
makes his company still sought for, and agreeable even to 
his yoimger acquaintance. I hope, therefore, that some 
of my descendants may follow the example and reap the 
benefit. 

It will be remark'd that, tho' my scheme \vas not 
wholly without religion, there was in it no mark of any of 
the distinguishing tenets of any particular sect. I had 
purposely avoided them ; for, being fully persuaded of 
the utility and excellency of m)' method, and that it might 
be serviceable to people in all religions, and intending 
some time or other to publish it, I would not have any 
thing in it that should prejudice any one, of any sect, 
against it. I purposed writing a little comment on each 
virtue, in which I would have shown the advantages of 
possessing it. and the mischiefs attending its opposite 
vice ; and 1 should have called my book The Art of Vir- 
tue,' because it would have shown the means and man- 
ner of obtaining virtue, which would have distinguished 
it from the mere exhortation to be good, that does not in- 
struct and indicate the means, but is like the apostle's 
man of verbal charity, who only without showing to the 
naked and hungry how or where they might get clothes 
or victuals, exhorted them to be fed and clothed. — James 
ii, 15, 16. 

But it so happened that my intention of writing and 
publishing this comment was never fulfilled. I did, in- 
deed, from time to time, put down short hints of the sen- 
timents, reasonings, etc., to be made use of in it, some of 
which I have still by me ; but the necessary close atten- 
tion to private business in the earlier part of my life, and 

* Nothing so likely to make a man's fortune as virtue. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 07 

public business since, have occasioned my postponing it ; 
lor, it being connected in my mind with a great and exten- 
sive projai, that required the whole man to execute, and 
which an unforeseen succession of employs prevented my 
attending to, it has hitherto rcmain'd unfinish'd. 

In this piece it was my design to explain and enforce 
this doctrine, that vicious actions are not hurtful because 
they are forbidden, but forbidden because they are hurt- 
ful, the nature of man alone considered ; that it was, there- 
fore, every one's interest to be virtuous who wish'd to be 
happy even in this world ; and I should, from this circum- 
stance (there being always in the world a number of rich 
merchants, nobility, states, and princes, who have need of 
honest instruments for the management of their affairs, 
and such being so rare), have endeavored to convince 
young persons that no qualities were so likely to make a 
poor man's fortune as those of probity and integrity. 

My list of virtues contain'd at first but twelve ; but a 
Quaker friend having kindly informed me that I was 
generally thought proud ; that my pride show'd itself 
frequently in conversation ; that I was not content with 
being in the right when discussing any point, but was 
overbearing, and rather insolent, of which he convinc'd 
me by mentioning several instances ; I determined endeav- 
ouring to cure myself, if I could, of this vice or folly 
among the rest, and I added Humility to my list, giving 
an extensive meaning to the word. 

I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality 
of this virtue, but I had a good deal with regard to the 
appearance of it. I made it a rule to forbear all direct 
contradiction to the sentiments of others, and all positive 
assertion of my own. I even forbid myself, agreeably to 
the old laws of our Junto, the use of every word or ex- 
pression in the language that imported a fix'd opinion, 
such as certainly, undoubtedly, etc., and I adopted instead 
of them, I conceive, I appreliend, or I imagine a thing to be 
so or so ; or it so appears to me at present. When another 
7 



98 



FRANKLIN 



asserted somcthinj^ that I thought an error, T denv'd mv- 
self the pleasure of coutradieting him abruptly, and of 
showing iintnediatelv some absuiclitv in his proposition; 
and in answeiiiig I began bv observing that in certain 
cases or circumstances his opinion would be right, but in 
the present case thcvc i2/'j\tir'if or serffi',/ to me some dif- 
ference, etc. I soon found the advantage of this change 
in mv manner; the conversations I cngag'd in went on 
more pleasantly. The modest way in which 1 propos'd 
nn opinions procur'd them a readier reception and less 
contradiction: I had less mortification when I was found 
to be in the wrong, and 1 more easily prcvail'd with 
others to give up their mistakes and join with me when I 
happened to be in the right. 

And this mode, which 1 at first put on with some vio- 
lence to natural inclination, became at length so easy, and 
so habitual to me, that perhaps for these fifty years past 
no one has ever heard a dogmatical expression escape me. 
And to this habit (after my character of integrity) 1 think 
it principally owing that I had early so much weight with 
mv fellow-citizens when 1 proposed new institutions, or 
alterations in the old, and so much influence in public 
councils when 1 became a member; for I was but a bad 
speaker, never eloquent, subject to much hesitation in my 
choice of words, hardlv correct in language, and yet I 
generally carried my points. 

In reality, there is. periuips. no one of our natural pas- 
sions so hard to subdue as priJr. Disguise it. struggle with 
it. beat it down, stifle it. mortifv it as much as one pleases, 
it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and 
show itself ; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history ; 
for. even if 1 could conceive that I had compleatlv over- 
come it. 1 should probably be proud of my humility. 

[ Thus far written at Passv. 17S4.] 

Having mentioned a i^rat and cwtc-nshc' f'ny'crt which T 
had conceiv'd, it seems proper that some account should 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



99 



be here given of that project and its object. Its first rise 
in my mind appears in the following little paper, acci- 
dentally preserv'd, viz. : 

Observations on my reading history, in Library, May 
19th, 1731. 

'* That the great affairs of the world, the wars, revolu- 
tions, etc., are carried on and effected by parties. 

" That the view of these parties is their present gen- 
eral interest, or what they take to be such. 

" That the different views of these different parties 
occasion all confusion. 

"That while a party is carrying on a general design, 
each man has his particular private interest in view. 

" That as soon as a party has gain'd its general point, 
each member becomes intent upon his particular interest ; 
which, thwarting others, breaks that party into divisions, 
and occasions more confusion. 

" That few in public affairs act from a meer view of 
the good of their country, whatever they may pretend ; 
and, tho' their actings bring real good to their country, 
yet men primarily considered that their own and their 
country's interest was united, and did not act from a prin- 
ciple of benevolence. 

" That fewer still, in public affairs, act with a view to 
the good of mankind. 

" There seems to me at present to be great occasion 
for raising a United Party for Virtue, by forming the vir- 
tuous and good men of all nations into a regular body, to 
be govern'd by suitable good and wise rules, which good 
and wise men may probably be more unanimous in their 
obedience to, than common people are to common laws. 

" I at present think that whoever attempts this aright, 
and is well qualified, can not fail of pleasing God, and of 
meeting with success. B. F." 

Revolving this project in my mind, as to be under- 
taken hereafter, when my circumstances should afford 
me the necessary leisure, I put down from time to time, 



lOO FRANKLIN 

on pieces of paper, such thoughts as occurr'd to me re- 
specting it. Most of these are lost ; but I find one pur- 
porting to be the substance of an intended creed, contain- 
ing, as I thought, the essentials of every known religion, 
and being free of every thing that might shock the pro- 
fessors of any religion. It is express'd in these words, 
viz. : 

" That there is one God, who made all things. 

" That he governs the world by his providence. 

" That he ought to be worshiped by adoration, prayer, 
and thanksgiving. 

" But that the most acceptable service of God is doing 
good to man. 

" That the soul is immortal, 

" And that God will certainly reward virtue and pun- 
ish vice, either here or hereafter." 

My ideas at that time were, that the sect should be 
begun and spread at first among young and single men 
only ; that each person to be initiated should not only de- 
clare his assent to such creed, but should have exercised 
himself with the thirteen weeks' examination and practice 
of the virtues, as in the before-mention'd model ; that the 
existence of such a society should be kept a secret, till it 
was become considerable, to prevent solicitations for the 
admission of improper persons, but that the members 
should each of them search among his acquaintance for 
ingenuous, well-disposed youths, to whom, with prudent 
caution, the scheme should be gradually communicated ; 
that the members should engage to afford their advice, 
assistance, and support to each other in promoting one 
another's interests, business, and advancement in life; that, 
for distinction, we should be call'd TJic Society of the Free 
and Easy : free, as being, by the general practice and habit 
of the virtues, free from the dominion of vice ; and par- 
ticularly by the practice of industry and frugality, free 
from debt, which exposes a man to confinement, and a 
species of slavery to his creditors. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY lOl 

This is as much as I can now recollect of the project, 
except that I communicated it in part to two young men, 
who adopted it with some enthusiasm ; but my then nar- 
row circumstances, and the necessity I was under of stick- 
ing close to my business, occasion'd my postponing the 
further prosecution of it at that time ; and my multifari- 
ous occupations, public and private, induc'd me to con- 
tinue postponing, so that it has been omitted till I have 
no longer strength or activity left sufficient for such an 
enterprise ; tho' 1 am still of opinion that it was a practi- 
cable scheme, and might have been very useful, by form- 
ing a great number of good citizens ; and I was not dis- 
courag'd by the seeming magnitude of the undertaking, 
as I have always thought that one man of tolerable abili- 
ties may work great changes, and accomplish great affairs 
among mankind, if he first forms a good plan, and, cut- 
ting off all amusements or other employments that would 
divert his attention, makes the execution of that same 
plan his sole study and business. 

In 1732 I first publish'd my Almanack, under the 
name of Richard Saunders ; it was continu'd by me about 
twenty-five years, commonly call'd " Poor Richard's Al- 
manac." I endeavor'd to make it both entertaining and 
useful, and it accordingly came to be in such demand, that 
I reap'd considerable profit from it, vending annually near 
ten thousand. And observing that it was generally read, 
scarce any neighborhood in the province being without 
it, I consider'd it as a proper vehicle for conveying in- 
struction among the common people, who bought scarce- 
ly any other books ; I therefore filled all the little spaces 
that occurr'd between the remarkable days in the calen- 
dar with proverbial sentences, chiefly such as inculcated 
industry and frugality, as the means of procuring wealth, 
and thereby securing virtue ; it being more difficult for a 
man in want, to act always honestly, as, to use here one 
of those proverbs, it is hard for an empty sack to stand 
upright. 



lOJ FRANKLIN 

These proverbs, which contained the wisdom of many 
ages and nations. I assembled and form'd into a connected 
discourse prefix'd to the Ahiianack of 1757. as the ha- 
rangue of a wise old man to the people attending an auc- 
tion. The bringing all these scatter'd counsels thus into 
a focus enabled them to make greater impression. The 
piece, being universallv approved, was copied in all the 
newspapers of the Continent ; reprinted in Britain on a 
broad side, to be stuck up in houses : two translations were 
made of it in French, and great numbers bought bv the 
clergy and gentrv. to distribute gratis among their poor 
parishioners and tenants. In rennsvlvania, as it discour- 
aged useless expense in foreign supertluities. some thought 
it had its share of influence in producing that growing 
plenty of nionev which was observable for several years 
alter its publication. 

I considered mv newspaper, also, as another means of 
coi\inuinicating instruction, and in that view frequently 
reprinted in it extracts from the " Spectator." and other 
moral writers ; and sometimes publish"d little pieces of 
my own. which had been first compos'd for reading in our 
junto. Of these are a Socratic dialogue, tending to prove 
that, whatever might be his parts and abilities, a vicious 
man could not properlv be called a man of sense ; and a 
discourse on self-denial, showing that virtue was not 
secure till its practice became a habitude, and was free 
from the opposition of contrary inclinations. These may 
be found in the papers about the beginning of 1735. 

In the conduct of mv newspaper. I carefully excluded 
all libelling and personal abuse, which is of late years be- 
come so disgraceful to our country. Whenever I was 
solicited to insert anv thing of that kind, and the writei^s 
pleaded, as they generally did. the liberty of the press, 
and tiiat a newspaper was like a stage-coach, in which 
anv one who would pav had a right to a place, mv answer 
was. that 1 would print the piece separately it desired, 
and the author might have as many copies as he pleased 



AUTOBIOGRArHY 



103 



to distribute himself, but that I would not take upon me 
to spread his detraction ; and that, having contracted with 
niv subscribers to furnish them with what might be cither 
useful or entertaining. I could not till their papers with 
private altercation, in which thev had no concern, with- 
out doing them manifest injustice. Now, many of our 
printers make no scruple of gratifying the malice of indi- 
viduals by false accusations of the fairest characters among 
ourselves, augmenting animosity even to the producing 
of duels ; and are, moreover, so indiscreet as to print scur- 
rilous reflections on the government of neighboring states, 
and even on the conduct of our best national allies, which 
may be attended with the most pernicious consequences. 
These things 1 mention as a caution to young printers, 
and that they may be encouraged not to pollute their 
presses and disgrace their profession by such infamous 
practices, but refuse steadilv. as they may see by my ex- 
ample that such a course of conduct will not, on the whole, 
be injurious to their interests. 

In 1733 I sent one of my journeymen to Charleston, 
South Carolina, where a printer was wanting. I furnish 'd 
him with a press and letters, on an agreement of partner- 
ship, by which I was to receive one-third of the profits of 
the business, paving one-third of the expense. He was a 
man of learning, and honest but ignorant in matters of 
account; and. tho' he sometimes made me remittances, I 
could get no account from him, nor any satisfactory state 
of our partnership while he lived. On his decease, the 
business was continued by his widow, who, being born 
and bred in Holland, where, as I have been inform'd, 
the knowledge of accounts makes a part of female educa- 
tion, she not only sent me as clear a state as she could 
find of the transactions past, but continued to account 
with the greatest regularity and exactness evcrv quar- 
ter afterwards, and managed the business with such suc- 
cess, that she not only brought up reputably a family of 
children, but, at the expiration of the term, was able to 



104 FRANKLIN 

purchase of me the printing-house, and establish her son 
in it. 

I mention this affair chi.fly for the sake of recommend- 
ing that branch of education for our young females, as 
likely to be of more use to them and their children, in 
case of widowhood, than either music or dancing, by pre- 
serving them from losses by imposition of crafty men, and 
enabling them to continue, perhaps, a profitable mercan- 
tile house, with establish'd correspondence, till a son is 
grown up fit to undertake and go on with it, to the lasting 
advantage and enriching of the family. 

About the vear 1734 there arrived among us from Ire- 
land a young Presbyterian preacher, named Hemphill, 
who delivered with a good voice, and apparently extem- 
pore, most excellent discourses, which drew together con- 
siderable numbers of different persuasions, who join'd in 
admiring them. Among the rest, I became one of his 
constant hearers, his sermons pleasing me, as thev had 
little of the dogmatical kind, but inculcated strongly the 
practice of virtue, or what in the religious stile are called 
good works. Those, however, of our congregation, who 
considered themselves as orthodox Presbyterians, disap- 
prov'd his doctrine, and were join'd by most of the old 
clergy, who arraign'd him of heterodoxy before the synod, 
in order to have him silenc'd. I became his zealous par- 
tisan, and contributed all I could to raise a party in his 
favour, and we combated for him a while with some hopes 
of success. There was much scribbling pro and con upon 
the occasion; and finding that, tho' an elegant preacher, 
he was but a poor writer, I lent him mv pen and wrote 
for him two or three pamphlets, and one piece in the 
" Gazette " of April, 1735. Those pamphlets, as is gener- 
ally the case with controversial writings, tho' eagerly read 
at the time, were soon out of vogue, and I question 
whether a single copy of them now exists. 

During the contest an unlucky occurrence hurt his 
cause exceedinsjlv. One of our adversaries havinor heard 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY lOj 

him preach a sermon that was much admired, thought he 
had somewhere read the sermon before, or at least a part 
of it. On search, he found that part quoted at length, in 
one of the British Reviews, from a discourse of Dr. Fos- 
ter's. This detection gave many of our party disgust, 
who accordinglv abandoned his cause, and occasion'd our 
more speedy discomfiture in the synod. I stuck by him, 
however, as I rather approv'd his giving us good sermons 
compos'd by others, than bad ones of his own manufac- 
ture, tho' the latter was the practice of our common 
teachers. He afterward acknowledg'd to me that none 
of those he prcach'd were his own ; adding, that his mem- 
ory was such as enabled him to retain and repeat any ser- 
mon after one reading only. On our defeat, he left us in 
search elsewhere of better fortune, and I quitted the con- 
gregation, never joining it after, tho' I continu'd many 
years my subscription for the support of its ministers. 

I had begun in 1733 to study languages ; I soon made 
myself so much a master of the French as to be able to 
read the books with ease. I then undertook the Italian. 
An acquaintance, who was also learning it, us'd often to 
tempt me to plav chess with him. Finding this took up 
too much of the time I had to spare for study, I at length 
refus'd to play any more, unless on this condition, that 
the victor in every game should have a right to impose a 
task, either in parts of the grammar to be got by heart, or 
in translations, etc., which tasks the vanquish'd was to 
perform upon honour, before our next meeting. As we 
pla3-'d pretty equally, we thus beat one another into that 
language. I afterwards with a little painstaking, acquir'd 
as much of the Spanish as to read their books also. 

I have already mention'd that I had only one year's 
instruction in a Latin school, and that when very young, 
after which I neglected that language entirely. But, 
when I had attained an acquaintance with the French, 
Italian, and Spanish, I was surpriz'd to find, on looking 
over a Latin Testament, that I understood so much more 



K>5 VRANKIIN 

of that Lmguage than I had imai^ined. which encouraged 
me to apply myself agfain to the study of it. and I met 
with more success, as those preceding languages had 
greatly smooth'd my way. 

From these circumstances. I have thought that there 
is some incvmsistency in our comiuon mode of teaching 
languages. We are told that it is proper to begin tirst 
with the Latin, and, having acv^uir'd that, it will be more 
easv to attain those modern languages which are deriv'd 
fR>m it : and yet we do not begin with the Greek, in order 
more easily to acquire the L;itin. It is true that, if vou 
can clamber and get to the top c>f a staircase without 
using the steps, you will more easily gain them in de- 
scending : but certainly, if you begin with the lowest vou 
will with more ease ascend to the top : and I would there- 
fore offer it to the consideration of those who superintend 
the education of our youth, whether, since manv of those 
who begin with the Latin quit the s^ime after spending 
some vears without having made any great prohciencv. 
and what they have learnt becomes almost useless, so that 
their time has been lost, it would not have been better to 
have begun with the French, proceeding to the Italian. 
etc: for, tho', after spending the s^ime time, they should 
quit the studv of languages and never arrive at the Latin, 
thev would, however, have acviuired another tongue or 
two. that, being in modern use. might be serviceable to 
them in common life. 

After ten vears* absence fR">m Boston, and having be- 
come easv in niv circumstances. I made a journey thither 
to visit mv relations, which I cc>uld not sooner well aflPord. 
In returning. I call'd at Newport to see my brother, then 
settled there with his printing-house. Our former dififer- 
euv^vs were forgo^tten. and our meeting was very corviial 
and affectionate. He was fast declining in his he.ilth. and 
irquested of me that, in case of his death, which he ajv 
prehendevi not far distant. 1 would take home his son. 
then but tet; yeai-s of age, and bring hira up to the print- 



AUTOBIOGRArilV 



107 



ing business. This I accordingly pcrform'd, scndino^ him 
a few vcars to school before I took him into the office. 
His mother carried on the business till he was <:^rown up, 
when I assisted him with an assortment of new types, 
those of his father being- in a manner worn out. Thus it 
was that I made my brother ample amends for the service 
I had depriv'd him of by leaving him so early. 

In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years 
old, by the small-pox, taken in the common way. I long 
regretted bitterly, and still regret that 1 had not given it 
to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of 
parents who omit that operation, on the supposition that 
they should never forgive themselves if a child died 
under it; my example showing that the regret ma}-^ be 
the same either way, and that, therefore, the safer should 
be chOvSen. 

Our club, the Junto, was found so useful, and afforded 
such satisfaction to the members, that several were desir- 
ous of introducing their friends, which could not well be 
done without exceeding; what we had settled as a con- 
venient number, viz., twelve. We had from the begin- 
ning made it a rule to keep our institution a secret, which 
was pretty well obscrv'd ; the intention was to avoid ap- 
plications of improper persons for admittance, some of 
whom, perhaps, we might find it ditTicult to refuse. I 
was one of those who were against any addition to our 
number, but, instead of it, made in writing a proposal, 
that every member separately should endeavor to form a 
subordinate club, with the same rules respecting queries, 
etc., and without informing them of the connection with 
the Junto. The advantages proposed were, the improve- 
ment of so many more young citizens by the use of our 
institutions ; our better acquaintance with the general sen- 
timents of the inhabitants on any occasion, as the Junto 
member might propose what queries we should desire, 
and was to report to the Junto what pass'd in his separate 
club; the promotion of our particular interests in business 



I08 FRANKLIN 

by more extensive recommendation, and the increase of 
our influence in public affairs, and our power of doing 
good by spreading thro' the several clubs the sentiments 
of the Junto. 

The project was approv'd, and every member under- 
took to form his club, but they did not all succeed. Five 
or six only were compleated, which were called by differ- 
ent names, as the Vine, the Union, the Band, etc. They 
were useful to themselves, and afforded us a good deal of 
amusement, information, and instruction, besides answer- 
ing, in some considerable degree, our views of influencing 
the public opinion on particular occasions, of which I 
shall give some instances in course of time as they hap- 
pened. 

My first promotion was my being chosen, in 1736, clerk 
of the General Assembly. The choice was made that year 
without opposition ; but the year following, when I was 
again propos'd (the choice, like that of the members, being 
annual), a new member made a long speech against me, in 
order to favour some other candidate. I was, however, 
chosen, which was the more agreeable to me, as, besides 
the pay for the immediate service as clerk, the place gave 
me a better opportunity of keeping up an interest among 
the members, which secur'd to me the business of print- 
ing the votes, laws, paper money, and other occasional 
jobbs for the public, that, on the whole, were very profit- 
able. 

I therefore did not like the opposition of this new 
member, who was a gentleman of fortune and education, 
with talents that were likely to give him, in time, great 
influence in the House, which, indeed, afterwards hap- 
pened. I did not, however, aim at gaining his favour by 
paying any servile respect to him, but, after some time, 
took this other method. Having heard that he had in his 
library a certain very scarce and curious book, I wrote a 
note to him, expressing my desire of perusing that book, 
and requesting he would do me the favour of lending it 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



109 



to me for a few days. He sent it immediately, and I re- 
turn'd it in about a week with another note, expressing 
strongly my sense of the favour. When we next met in 
the House, he spoke to me (which he had never done be- 
fore), and with great civility; and he ever after manifested 
a readiness to serve me on all occasions, so that we became 
great friends, and our friendship continued to his death. 
This is another instance of the truth of an old maxim I 
had learned, which says, "//<? that has once done you a kind- 
ness will be more ready to do you another, tha?t he whom you 
yourself have obliged." And it shows how much more 
profitable it is prudently to remove, than to resent, return, 
and continue inimical proceedings. 

In 1737, Colonel Spots wood, late governor of Virginia, 
and then postmaster-general, being dissatisfied with the 
conduct of his deputy at Philadelphia, respecting some 
negligence in rendering, and inexactitude of his accounts, 
took from him the commission and offered it to me. I 
accepted it readily, and found it of great advantage ; for, 
tho' the salary was small, it facilitated the correspond- 
ence that improv'd my newspaper, increas'd the number 
demanded, as well as the advertisements to be inserted, 
so that it came to afford me a considerable income. My 
old competitor's newspaper declin'd proportionably, and 
I was satisfy 'd without retaliating his refusal, while post- 
master, to permit my papers being carried by the riders. 
Thus he suffer'd greatly from his neglect in due account- 
ing ; and I mention it as a lesson to those young men who 
may be employ 'd in managing affairs for others, that they 
should always render accounts, and make remittances, 
with great clearness and punctuality. The character of 
observing such a conduct is the most powerful of all 
recommendations to new employments and increase of 
business. 

I began now to turn my thoughts a little to public 
affairs, beginning, however, with small matters. The city 
watch was one of the first things that I conceiv'd to want 



IIQ FR.WKI.IX 

rei^I^ulation. It was managed by the constables of the 
respective wards in turn ; the constable warned a number 
of housekeepers to attend him for the night. Those who 
chose never to attend, paid him six shillings a year to be 
excused, which was suppos'd to be for hiring substitutes, 
but was, in reality, nuich more than was necessary for 
that purpose, and made the constableship a place of 
profit ; and the constable, for a little drink, often got 
such ragamuthns about him as a watch, that respectable 
housekeepers did not choose to mix with. Walking the 
rounds, too. was often neglected, and most of the nights 
spent in tippling. I thereupon wrote a paper to be read 
in Junto, representing those irregularities, but insisting 
more particularly on the inequality of this six-shilling tax 
of the constables, respecting the circumstances of those 
who paid it. since a poor widow housekeeper, all whose 
property to be guarded by the watch did not perhaps 
exceed the value of fifty pounds, paid as much as the 
wealthiest merchant, who had thousands of pounds' worth 
of goods in his stores. 

On the whole, I proposed as a more effectual watch, 
the hiring of proper men to serve constantly in that busi- 
ness ; and as a more equitable way of supporting the 
charge, the levying a tax that should be proportion'd to 
the property. This idea, being approv'd by the Junto, 
was communicated to the other clubs, but as arising in 
each of them ; and though the plan was not immediately 
carried into execution, yet, by preparing the minds of 
people for the change, it paved the way for the law ob- 
tained a few years after, when the members of our clubs 
were grown into more influence. 

About this time 1 wrote a paper i^first to be read in 
Junto, but it was atterward publish'd> on the difTerent 
accidents and carelessnesses bv which houses were set on 
tire, with cautions against them, and means proposed of 
avoiding them. This was much spoken of as a useful 
piece, and gave rise to a project, which soon followed it, 



AUTOlUOC.RArilY HI 

of formins:: ^ company for the more ready extin^iiishiiiyf 
ot tires, atui mutual assistance in removing- and securing 
of goods when in danger. Associates in this scheme were 
presently found, amounting to thirty. Our articles of 
agreement obligd every member to keep always in good 
order, and fit for use, a certain number of leather buckets, 
with strong bags and baskets (for packing and transport- 
ing of goods), which were to be brought to every tire ; 
and we agreed to meet once a month and spend a social 
evening together, in discoursing and communicating such 
ideas as occurred to us upon the subject of tires, as might 
be useful in our conduct on such occasions. 

The utility of this institution soon appeared, and many 
more desiring to be admitted than we thought convenient 
for one company, they were advised to form another, 
which was accordingly done; and this went on. one now 
company being formed after another, till tliev became so 
numerous as to include most of the inhabitants who were 
men of property; and now. at the time of my writing 
this, tho' upward of titty years since its establishment, 
that which 1 first formed, called the l^'nion Fire Company, 
still subsists and flourishes, tho' the tirst members are all 
deceas'd but myself and one, who is older bv a year than 
I am. The small fines that have been paid by members 
for absence at the monthly meetings have been apply'd to 
the purchase of fire-engines, ladders, tire-hooks, and other 
useful implements for each company, so that I question 
whether there is a city in the world better provided with 
the means of putting a stop to beginning conflagrations ; 
and. in fact, since these institutions, the city has never lost 
by fire more than one or two houses at a time, and the 
flames have often been extinguished before the house in 
which they began has been half consumed. p- 

In 1/39 arrived among us from Ireland the Reverend 
Mr. Whitefield, who had made himself remarkable there 
as an itinerant preacher. lie was at first permitted to 
preach in some of our churches ; but the clergy, taking a 



112 FRANKLIN 

dislike to him, soon refus'd him their pulpits, and he was 
oblig'd to preach in the fields. The multitudes of all sects 
and denominations that attended his sermons were enor- 
mous, and it was matter of speculation to me, who was 
one of the number, to observe the extraordinary influence 
of his oratory on his hearers, and how much they admir'd 
and respected him, notwithstanding his common abuse of 
them, by assuring them they were naturally half beasts 
and half devils. It was wonderful to see the change soon 
made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being 
thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all 
the world were growing religious, so that one could not 
walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms 
sung in different families of every street. 

And it being found inconvenient to assemble in the 
open air, subject to its inclemencies, the building of a 
house to meet in was no sooner propos'd, and persons ap- 
pointed to receive contributions, but sufficient sums were 
soon receiv'd to procure the ground and erect the build- 
ing, which was one hundred feet long and seventy broad, 
about the size of Westminster Hall; and the work was 
carried on with such spirit as to be finished in a much 
shorter time than could have been expected. Both house 
and ground were vested in trustees, expressly for the use 
of any preacher of any religious persuasion who might 
desire to say something to the people at Philadelphia ; 
the design in building not being to accommodate any 
particular sect, but the inhabitants in general ; so that 
even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a mis- 
sionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find 
a pulpit at his service. 

Mr. Whitefield, in leaving us, went preaching all the 
way thro' the colonies to Georgia. The settlement of 
that province had lately been begun, but, instead of being 
made with hardy, industrious husbandmen, accustomed 
to labor, the only people fit for such an enterprise, it was 
with families of broken shop-keepers and other insolvent 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 1 3 

debtors, many of indolent and idle habits, taken out of the 
jails, who, being set down in the woods, unqualified for 
clearing land, and unable to endure the hardships of a 
new settlement, perished in numbers, leaving many help- 
less children unprovided for. The sight of their misera- 
ble situation inspir'd the benevolent heart of Mr. White- 
field with the idea of building an Orphan House there, in 
which they might be supported and educated. Return- 
ing northward, he preach 'd up this charity, and made 
large collections, for his eloquence had a wonderful power 
over the hearts and purses of his hearers, of which I myself 
was an instance. 

I did not disapprove of the design, but, as Georgia 
was then destitute of materials and workmen, and it was 
proposed to send them from Philadelphia at a great ex- 
pense, I thought it would have been better to have built 
the house here, and brought the children to it. This I 
advis'd ; but he was resolute in his first project, rejected 
my counsel, and I therefore refus'd to contribute. I hap- 
pened soon after to attend one of his sermons, in the course 
of which I perceived he intended to finish with a collec- 
tion, and I silently resolved he should get nothing from 
me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, 
three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As 
he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the 
coppers. Another stroke of his oratory made me asham'd 
of that, and determin'd me to give the silver; and he 
finish'd so admirably, that I empty 'd my pocket wholly 
into the collector's dish, gold and all. At this sermon 
there was also one of our club, who, being of my senti- 
ments respecting the building in Georgia, and suspecting 
a collection might be intended, had, by precaution, emp- 
tied his pockets before he came from home. Towards 
the conclusion of the discourse, however, he felt a strong 
desire to give, and apply 'd to a neighbour, who stood near 
him, to borrow some money for the purpose. The appli- 
cation was unfortunately [made] to perhaps the only man 



114 



FRANKLIN 



in the company who had the firmness not to be aflfected 
by the preacher. His answer was, "Ai any other thne, 
Friend Hopkinson, I would lend to thee freely ; but not now, 
for thee seems to be out of thy right senses!' 

Some of Mr. Whitefield's enemies affected to suppose 
that he would apply these collections to his own private 
emolument ; but I, who was intimately acquainted with 
him (being employed in printing his Sermons and Jour- 
nals, etc.), never had the least suspicion of his integrity, 
but am to this day decidedly of opinion that he was in 
all his conduct a perfectly honest man; and methinks my 
testimony in his favour ought to have the more weight, 
as we had no religious connection. He us'd, indeed, 
sometimes to pray for my conversion, but never had the 
satisfaction of believing that his prayers were heard. 
Ours was a mere civil friendship, sincere on both sides, 
and lasted to his death. 

The following instance will show something of the 
terms on which we stood. Upon one of his arrivals from 
England at Boston, he wrote to me that he should come 
soon to Philadelphia, but knew not where he could lodge 
when there, as he understood his old friend and host, Mr. 
Benezet, was removed to Germantown. My answer was, 
" You know my house ; if you can make shift with its 
scanty accommodations, you will be most heartily wel- 
come." He reply'd, that if I made that kind offer for 
Christ's sake, I should not miss of a reward. And I re- 
turned, ''Dont let me be mistaken; it was not for Christ's 
sake, but for your sake." One of our common acquaint- 
ance jocosely remark'd, that, knowing it to be the custom 
of the saints, when they received any favour, to shift the 
burden of the obligation from off their own shoulders, 
and place it in heaven, I had contriv'd to fix it on earth. 

The last time I saw Mr. Whitefield was in London, 
when he consulted me about his Orphan House concern, 
and his purpose of appropriating it to the establishment 
of a college. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY II5 

He had a loud and clear voice, and articulated his 
words and sentences so perfectly, that he might be heard 
and understood at a great distance, especially as his audi- 
tories, however numerous, observ'd the most exact silence. 
He preach'd one evening from the top of the Court-house 
steps, which are in the middle of Market-street, and on the 
west side of Second-street, which crosses it at right angles. 
Both streets were fiU'd with his hearers to a considerable 
distance. Being among the hindmost in Market-street, I 
had the curiosity to learn how far he could be heard, by re- 
tiring backwards down the street towards the river ; and 
I found his voice distinct till I came near Front-street, 
when some noise in that street obscur'd it. Imagining then 
a semicircle, of which my distance should be the radius, 
and that it were fill'd with auditors, to each of whom I 
allow'd two square feet, I computed that he might well 
be heard by more than thirty thousand. This reconcil'd 
me to the newspaper accounts of his having preach'd to 
twenty-five thousand people in the fields, and to the 
antient histories of generals haranguing whole armies, of 
which I had sometimes doubted. 

By hearing him often, I came to distinguish easily 
between sermons newly compos'd, and those which he 
had often preach'd in the course of his travels. His 
delivery of the latter was so improv'd by frequent repeti- 
tions that every accent, every emphasis, every modulation 
of voice, was so perfectly well turn'd and well plac'd, 
that, without being interested in the subject, one could 
not help being pleas'd with the discourse ; a pleasure of 
much the same kind with that receiv'd from an excellent 
piece of musick. This is an advantage itinerant preachers 
have over those who are stationary, as the latter can not 
well improve their delivery of a sermon by so many re- 
hearsals. 

His writing and printing from time to time gave great 
advantage to his enemies; unguarded expressions, and 
even erroneous opinions, delivered in preaching, might 



Il6 FRANKLIN 

have been afterward explain'd or qualifi'd by supposing 
others that might have accompani'd them, or they might 
have been deny'd ; but lit era script a manet. Critics attack'd 
his writings violently, and with so much appearance of 
reason as to diminish the number of his votaries and pre- 
vent their encrease ; so that I am of opinion if he had 
never written any thing, he would have left behind him a 
much more numerous and important sect, and his reputa- 
tion might in that case have been still growing, even after 
his death, as there being nothing of his writing on which 
to found a censure and give him a lower character, his 
proselytes would be left at liberty to feign for him as 
great a variety of excellences as their enthusiastic admira- 
tion might wish him to have possessed. 

My business was now continually augmenting, and 
my circumstances growing daily easier, my newspaper 
having become very profitable, as being for a time almost 
the only one in this and the neighbouring provinces. I ex- 
perienced, too, the truth of the observation, " t/iat after 
getting the first hundred pound, it is vwre easy to get the 
second,'' money itself being of a prolific nature. 

The partnership at Carolina having succeeded, I was 
encourag'd to engage in others, and to promote several 
of my workmen, who had behaved well, by establishing 
them with printing-houses in different colonies, on the 
same terms with that in Carolina. Most of them did well, 
being enabled at the end of our term, six years, to pur- 
chase the types of me and go on working for themselves, 
by which means several families were raised. Partner- 
ships often finish in quarrels ; but I was happy in this, 
that mine were all carried on and ended amicably, owing, 
I think, a good deal to the precaution of having very ex- 
plicitly settled, in our articles, every thing to be done by 
or expected from each partner, so that there was nothing 
to dispute, which precaution I would therefore recom- 
mend to all who enter into partnerships ; for, whatever 
esteem partners may have for, and confidence in each 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



117 



other at the time of the contract, h'ttle jealousies and dis- 
gusts may arise, with ideas of inequality in the care and 
burden of the business, etc., which are attended often with 
breach of friendship and of the connection perhaps with 
lawsuits and other disagreeable consequences. 

I had, on the whole, abundant reason to be satisfied 
with my being established in Pennsylvania. There were, 
however, two things that I regretted, there being no pro- 
vision for defense, nor for a compleat education of youth ; 
no militia, nor any college. I therefore, in 1743, drew up 
a proposal for establishing an academy ; and at that time, 
thinking the Reverend Mr. Peters, who was out of em- 
ploy, a fit person to superintend such an institution, I 
communicated the project to him ; but he, having more 
profitable views in the service of the proprietaries, which 
succeeded, declin'd the undertaking ; and, not knowing 
another at that time suitable for such a trust, I let the 
scheme lie a while dormant. I succeeded better the next 
year, 1744, in proposing and establishing a Philosophical 
Society. The paper I wrote for that purpose will be 
found among my writings, when collected. 

With respect to defense, Spain having been several 
years at war against Great Britain, and being at length 
join'd by France, which brought us into great danger; 
and the laboured and long-continued endeavour of our 
governor, Thomas, to prevail with our Quaker Assembly 
to pass a militia law, and make other provisions for the 
security of the province, having proved abortive, I de- 
termined to try what might be done by a voluntary 
association of the people. To promote this, I first wrote 
and published a pamphlet, entitled '• Plain Truth," in 
which I stated our defenceless situation in strong lights, 
with the necessity of union and discipline for our defense, 
and promis'd to propose in a few days an association, to 
be generally signed for that purpose. The pamphlet had 
a sudden and surprising effect. I was call'd upon for the 
instrument of association, and having settled the draft of 



Il8 FRANKLIN 

it with a few friends, I appointed a meeting of the citizens 
in the large building before mentioned. The house was 
pretty full ; I had prepared a number of printed copies, 
and provided pens and ink dispers'd all over the room. I 
harangued them a little on the subject, read the paper, 
and explained it, and then distributed the copies, which 
were eagerly signed, not the least objection being made. 

When the company separated, and the papers were 
collected, we found above twelve hundred hands; and, 
other copies being dispersed in the country, the subscrib- 
ers amounted at length to upward of ten thousand. These 
all furnished themselves as soon as they could with arms, 
formed themselves into companies and regiments, chose 
their own officers, and met every week to be instructed 
in the manual exercise, and other parts of military dis- 
cipline. The women, by subscriptions among themselves, 
provided silk colors, which they presented to the compa- 
nies, painted with different devices and mottos, which 
I supplied. 

The officers of the companies composing the Philadel- 
phia regiment, being met, chose me for their colonel; but, 
conceiving myself unfit, I declin'd that station, and recom- 
mended Mr. Lawrence, a fine person, and man of influence, 
who was accordingly appointed. I then propos'd a lot- 
tery to defray the expense of building a battery below the 
town, and furnishing it with cannon. It filled expedi- 
tiously, and the battery was soon erected, the merlons 
being fram'd of logs and fill'd with earth. We bought 
some old cannon from Boston, but, these not being suffi- 
cient, we wrote to England for more, soliciting, at the 
same time, our proprietaries for some assistance, tho' 
without much expectation of obtaining it. 

Meanwhile Colonel Lawrence, William Allen, Abram 
Tavlor, Esqr., and myself were sent to New York by the 
associators, commission'd to borrow some cannon of Gov- 
ernor Clinton. He at first refus'd us peremptorily ; but 
at dinner with his council, where there was great drink- 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 19 

ingof Madeira wine, as the custom of that place then was, 
he softened by degrees, and said he would lend us six. 
After a few more bumpers he advanc'd to ten ; and at 
length he very good-naturedly conceded eighteen. They 
were fine cannon, eighteen-pounders, with their carriages, 
which we soon transported and mounted on our battery, 
where the associators kept a nightly guard while the war 
lasted, and among the rest I regularly took my turn of 
duty there as a common soldier. 

My activity in these operations was agreeable to the 
governor and council ; they took me into confidence, and 
I was consulted by them in every measure wherein their 
concurrence was thought useful to the association. Call- 
ing in the aid of religion, I propos'd to them the proclaim- 
ing a fast, to promote reformation, and implore the bless- 
ing of Heaven on our undertaking. They embrac'd the 
motion ; but, as it was the first fast ever thought of in the 
province, the secretary had no precedent from which to 
draw the proclamation. My education in New England, 
where a fast is proclaimed every year, was here of some 
advantage : I drew it in the accustomed stile; it was trans- 
lated into German, printed in both languages, and divulg'd 
thro' the province. This gave the clergy of the different 
sects an opportunity of influencing their congregations to 
join in the association, and it would probably have been 
general among all but Quakers if the peace had not soon 
interven'd. 

It was thought by some of my friends that, by my 
activity in these affairs, I should offend that sect, and 
thereby lose my interest in the Assembly of the province, 
where they formed a great majority. A young gentle- 
man who had likewise some friends in the House, and 
wished to succeed me as their clerk, acquainted me that 
it was decided to displace me at the next election ; and 
he, therefore, in good will, advis'd me to resign, as more 
consistent with my honour than being turn'd out. My 
answer to him was, that I had read or heard of some pub 



I20 FRANKLIN 

lie man who made it a rule never to ask for an office, and 
never to refuse one when offer'd to him. " I approve," 
says I, "of his rule, and will practice it with a small addi- 
tion ; I shall never ask, never refuse, nor ever resig^i an 
office. If they will have mv office of clerk to dispose of 
to another, they shall take it from me. I will not, by giv- 
ing it up, lose my right of some time or other making 
reprisals on my adversaries." I heard, however, no more 
of this ; I was chosen again unanimously as usual at the 
next election. Possibly, as they dislik'd my late intimacy 
with the members of council, who had join'd the gov- 
ernors in all the disputes about military preparations, 
with which the House had long been harass'd, they might 
have been pleas'd if I would voluntarily have left them ; 
but they did not care to displace me on account merely 
of my zeal for the association, and they could not well 
give another reason. 

Indeed I had some cause to believe that the defense 
of the country was not disagreeable to any of them, pro- 
vided they were not requir'd to assist in it. And I found 
that a much greater number of them than I could have 
imagined, tho' against offensive war, were clearly for the 
defensive. Many pamphlets fro and con were publish'd 
on the subject, and some bv good Quakers, in favour of 
defense, which I believe convinc'd most of their younger 
people. 

A transaction in our fire companv gave me some in- 
sight into their prevailing sentiments. It had been pro- 
pos'd that we should encourage the scheme for building 
a battery bv laying out the present stock, then about sixty 
pounds, in tickets of the lottery. By our rules, no money 
could be dispos'd of till the next meeting after the pro- 
posal. The company consisted of thirty members, of 
which twentv-two were Quakers, and eight only of other 
persuasions. We eight punctually attended the meeting ; 
but, tho' we thought that some of the Quakers would join 
us, we were by no means sure of a majority. Only one 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 121 

Quaker, Mr. James Morris, appear'd to oppose the meas- 
ure. He expressed much sorrow that it had ever been 
propos'd, as he said Friends were all against it, and it 
would create such discord as might break up the com- 
pany. We told him that we saw no reason for that ; we 
were the minority, and if Friends were against the meas- 
ure, and outvoted us, we must and should, agreeably to 
the usage of all societies, submit. When the hour for 
business arriv'd it was mov'd to put the vote ; he allow'd 
we might then do it by the rules, but, as he could assure 
us that a number of members intended to be present for 
the purpose of opposing it, it would be but candid to allow 
a little time for their appearing. 

While we were disputing this, a waiter came to tell 
me two gentlemen below desir'd to speak with me. I 
went down, and found they were two of our Quaker mem- 
bers. They told me there were eight of them assembled 
at a tavern just by ; that they were determin'd to come 
and vote with us if there should be occasion, which they 
hop'd would not be the case, and desir'd we would not 
call for their assistance if we could do without it, as their 
voting for such a measure might embroil them with their 
elders and friends. Being thus secure of a majority, I 
went up, and after a little seeming hesitation, agreed to a 
delay of another hour. This Mr. Morris allow'd to be 
extreamly fair. Not one of his opposing friends appear'd, 
at which he express'd great surprize ; and, at the expiration 
of the hour, we carry 'd the resolution eight to one ; and 
as, of the twenty-two Quakers, eight were ready to vote 
with us, and thirteen, by their absence, manifested that 
they were not inclin'd to oppose the measure, I afterward 
estimated the proportion of Quakers sincerely against de- 
fense as one to twenty-one only ; for these were all regu- 
lar members of that society, and in good reputation among 
them, and had due notice of what was propos'd at that 
meeting. 

The honorable and learned Mr. Logan, who had always 



122 FRANKLIN 

been of that sect, was one who wrote an address to them, 
declaring his approbation of defensive war, and support- 
ing his opinion by many strong arguments. He put into 
my hands sixty pounds to be laid out in lottery tickets 
for the battery, with directions to apply what prizes 
might be drawn wholly to that service. He told me the 
following anecdote of his old master, William Penn, re- 
specting defense. He came over from England, when a 
young man, with that proprietary, and as his secretary. 
It was war-time, and their ship was chas'd by an armed 
vessel, suppos'd to be an enemy. Their captain prepar'd 
for defense ; but told William Penn, and his company of 
Quakers, that he did not expect their assistance, and they 
might retire into the cabin, which they did, except James 
Logan, who chose to stay upon deck, and was quarter'd 
to a gun. The suppos'd enemy prov'd a friend, so there 
was no fighting ; but when the secretary went down to 
communicate the intelligence, William Penn rebuk'd him 
severely for staying upon deck, and undertaking to assist 
in defending the vessel, contrary to the principles of 
Friends, especially as it had not been required by the cap- 
tain. This reproof, being before all the company, piqu'd 
the secretary, who answer'd, '■^ I being thy servant, why did 
thee not order me to come down ? But thee was willing enough 
that I should stay and help to fight the ship when thee thought 
there was danger T 

My being many years in the Assembly, the majority 
of which were constantly Quakers, gave me frequent op- 
portunities of seeing the embarrassment given them by 
their principle against war, whenever application was 
made to them, by order of the crown, to grant aids for 
military purposes. They were unwilling to offend gov- 
ernment, on the one hand, by a direct refusal ; and their 
friends, the body of the Quakers, on the other, by a com- 
pliance contrary to their principles ; hence a variety of 
evasions to avoid complying, and modes of disguising the 
compliance when it became unavoidable. The common 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 123-'' 

mode at last was to grant money under the phrase of its 
being- ^^ for the kings use" and never to inquire how it was 
applied. 

But, if the demand was not directly from the crown, 
that phrase was found not so proper, and some other was 
to be invented. As, when powder was wanting (I think 
it was for the garrison at Louisburg), and the government 
of New England solicited a grant of some from Pennsil- 
vania, which was much urg'd on the House by Governor 
Thomas, they could not grant money to buy powder, be- 
cause that was an ingredient of war ; but they voted an 
aid to New England of three thousand pounds, to be put 
into the hands of the governor, and appropriated it for 
the purchasing of bread, flour, wheat, or other grain. 
Some of the council, desirous of giving the House still 
further embarrassment, advis'd the governor not to accept 
provision, as not being the thing he had demanded ; but 
he reply'd, " I shall take the money, for I understand very 
well their meaning ; other grain is gunpowder," which he 
accordingly bought, and they never objected to it. 

It was in allusion to this fact that, when in our fire 
company we feared the success of our proposal in favour 
of the lottery, and I had said to my friend Mr. Syng, one 
of our members, " If we fail, let us move the purchase of 
a fire-engine with the money ; the Quakers can have no 
objection to that ; and then, if you nominate me and I 
you as a committee for that purpose, we will buy a great 
gun, which is certainly a Jire-engine" " I see," says he, 
"you have improv'd by being so long in the Assembly; 
your equivocal project would be just a match for their 
wheat or other grain." 

These embarrassments that the Quakers suffer'd from 
having establish'd and published it as one of their princi- 
ples that no kind of war was lawful, and which, being 
once published, they could not afterwards, however they 
might change their minds, easily get rid of, reminds me 
of what I think a more prudent conduct in another sect 



124 



FRANKLIN 



among us, that of the Dunkers. I was acquainted with 
one of its founders, Michael Welfare, soon after it ap- 
pear'd. He complain'd to me that they were grievously 
calumniated by the zealots of other persuasions, and 
charg'd with abominable principles and practices, to 
which they were utter strangers. I told him this had 
always been the case with new sects, and that, to put a 
stop to such abuse, I imagin'd it might be well to pub- 
lish the articles of their belief, and the rules of their dis- 
cipline. He said that it had been propos'd among them, 
but not agreed to, for this reason : " When we were first 
drawn together as a society," says he, " it had pleased 
God to enlighten our minds so far as to see that some 
doctrines, which we once esteemed truths, were errors ; 
and that others, which we had esteemed errors, were real 
truths. From time to time He has been pleased to afford 
us farther light, and our principles have been improving, 
and our errors diminishing. Now we are not sure that 
we are arrived at the end of this progression, and at the 
perfection of spiritual or theological knowledge ; and we 
fear that, if we should once print our confession of faith, 
we should feel ourselves as if bound and confin'd by it, 
and perhaps be unwilling to receive farther improvement, 
and our successors still more so, as conceiving what we 
their elders and founders had done, to be something 
sacred, never to be departed from." 

This modesty in a sect is perhaps a singular instance 
in the history of mankind, every other sect supposing 
itself in possession of all truth, and that those who differ 
are so far in the wrong ; like a man traveling in foggy 
weather, those at some distance before him on the road 
he sees wrapped up in the fog, as well as those behind 
him, and also the people in the fields on each side, but 
near him all appears clear, tho' in truth he is as much in 
the fog as any of them. To avoid this kind of embarrass- 
ment, the Quakers have of late years been gradually de- 
clining the public service in the Assembly and in the 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 25 

mag-istracy, choosing rather to quit their power than their 
principle. 

In order of time, I should have mentioned before, that 
having, in 1742, invented an open stove for the better 
warming of rooms, and at the same time saving fuel, as 
the fresh air admitted was warmed in entering, I made a 
present of the model to Mr. Robert Grace, one of my 
early friends, who, having an iron-furnace, found the cast- 
ing of the plates for these stoves a profitable thing, as 
they were growing in demand. To promote that demand, 
I wrote and published a pamphlet, entitled *'An Account of 
the new-invented Pennsylvania Fireplaces ; wherein their 
Constructiott and Manner of Operation is particularly ex- 
plained ; their Advantages above every other Method of warm- 
ing Rooms demonstrated ; and all Objections that have been 
raised against the Use of them answered and obviated^' etc. 
This pamphlet had a good effect. Gov'r. Thomas was so 
pleas'd with the construction of this stove, as described 
in it, that he offered to give me a patent for the sole vend- 
ing of them for a term of years ; but I declin'd it from a 
principle which has ever weighed with me on such occa- 
sions, viz.. That, as we enjoy great advantages from the in- 
ventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to 
serve others by any hivention of ours ; and this voe should do 
freely and generously. 

An ironmonger in London, however, assuming a good 
deal of my pamphlet, and working it up into his own, and 
making some small changes in the machine, which rather 
hurt its operation, got a patent for it there, and made, as 
I was told, a little fortune by it. And this is not the only 
instance of patents taken out for my inventions by others, 
tho' not always with the same success, which I never con- 
tested, as having no desire of profiting by patents myself, 
and hating disputes. The use of these fireplaces in very 
many houses, both of this and the neighboring colonies, 
has been, and is, a great saving of wood to the inhabit- 
ants. 



126 FRANKLIN 

Peace being concluded, and the association business 
therefore at an end, I turn'd my thoughts again to the 
affair of establishing an academy. The first step I took 
was to associate in the design a number of active friends, 
of whom the Junto furnished a good part ; the next was 
to write and publish a pamphlet, entitled Proposals re- 
lating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania. This 
1 distributed among the principal inhabitants gratis ; and 
as soon as I could suppose their minds a little prepared 
by the perusal of it, I set on foot a subscription for open- 
ing and supporting an academy : it was to be paid in 
quotas yearly for five )'ears ; by so dividing it, I judg'd 
the subscription might be larger, and I believe it was so, 
amounting to no less, if I remember right, than five thou- 
sand pounds. 

In the introduction to these proposals. I stated their 
publication, not as an act of mine, but of some publick- 
spirittd gcntloncn, avoiding as much as I could, according 
to my usual rule, the presenting myself to the publick as 
the author of any scheme for their benefit. 

The subscribers, to carry the project into immediate 
execution, chose out of their number twentv-four trustees, 
and appointed Mr. Francis, then attorney-general, and 
myself to draw up constitutions for the government of the 
academy ; which being done and signed, a house was 
hired, masters engag'd, and the schools opened, I think, 
in the same year, 1749. 

The scholars increasing fast, the house was soon found 
too small, and we were looking out for a piece of ground, 
properly situated, with intention to build, when Provi- 
dence threw into our way a large house ready built, 
which, with a few alterations, might well serve our pur- 
pose. This was the building before mentioned, erected 
by the hearers of Mr. Whitefield, and was obtained for us 
in the following manner. 

It is to be noted that the contributions to this building 
being made by people of different sects, care was taken in 



ORIGINAL BUILDINGS OP THE PENNSY lA'ANIA 
ACADEMY, 'NOW THE UNIVERSITY 

Photogr.u 



.^!i 

':'^i 



^\ 



immediate 



madti I' 




_«, 



m 



■*!ri •■ 








AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



127 



the nomination of trustees, in whom the building and 
ground was to be vested, that a predominancy should not 
be given to any sect, lest in time that predominancy might 
be a means of appropriating the whole to the use of such 
sect, contrary to the original intention. It was therefore 
that one of each sect was appointed, viz., one Church-of- 
England man, one Presbyterian, one Baptist, one Mora- 
vian, etc., those, in case of vacancy by death, were to fill 
it by election from among the contributors. The Mora- 
vian happen'd not to please his colleagues, and on his 
death they resolved to have no other of that sect. The 
difficulty then was, how to avoid having two of some other 
sect, by means of the new choice. 

Several persons were named, and for that reason not 
agreed to. At length one mention'd me, with the ob- 
servation that I was merely an honest man, and of no sect 
at all, which prevail'd with them to chuse me. The en- 
thusiasm which existed when the house was built had long 
since abated, and its trustees had not been able to procure 
fresh contributions for paying the ground-rent, and dis- 
charging some other debts the building had occasion'd, 
which embarrass'd them greatly. Being now a member of 
both setts of trustees, that for the building and that for 
the academy, I had a good opportunity of negotiating 
with both, and brought them finally to an agreement, by 
which the trustees for the building were to cede it to 
those of the academy, the latter undertaking to discharge 
the debt, to keep for ever open in the building a large 
hall for occasional preachers, according to the original 
intention, and maintain a free-school for the instruction of 
poor children. Writings were accordingly drawn, and 
on paying the debts the trustees of the academy were put 
in possession of the premises ; and by dividing the great 
and lofty hall into stories, and different rooms above and 
below for the several schools, and purchasing some addi- 
tional ground, the whole was soon made fit for our pur- 
pose, and the scholars remov'd into the building. The 



128 FRANKLIN 

care and trouble of agreeing with the workmen, purchas- 
ing materials, and superintending the work, fell upon me ; 
and I went thro' it the more cheerfully, as it did not then 
interfere with my private business, having the year before 
taken a very able, industrious, and honest partner, Mr. 
David Hall, with whose character I was well acquainted, 
as he had work'd for me four years. He took off my 
hands all care of the printing-office, paying me punctually 
my share of the profits. This partnership continued 
eighteen years, successfully for us both. 

The trustees of the academy, after a while, were in- 
corporated by a charter from the governor ; their funds 
were increas'd by contributions in Britain and grants of 
land from the proprietaries, to which the Assembly has 
since made considerable addition ; and thus was estab- 
lished the present University of Philadelphia. I have 
been continued one of its trustees from the beginning, 
now near forty years, and have had the very great plea- 
sure of seeing a number of the youth who have receiv'd 
their education in it distinguish'd by their improv'd abili- 
ties, serviceable in public stations, and ornaments to their 
country. 

When I disengaged myself, as above mentioned, from 
private business, I fiatter'd myself that, by the sufficient 
tho* moderate fortune I had acquir'd, I had secured leisure 
during the rest of my life for philosophical studies and 
amusements. I purchased all Dr. Spence's apparatus, 
who had come from England to lecture here, and I pro- 
ceeded in my electrical experiments with great alacrity ; 
but the publick, now considering me as a man of leisure, 
laid hold of me for their purposes, every part of our civil 
government, and almost at the same time, imposing some 
duty upon me. The governor put me into the commis- 
sion of the peace ; the corporation of the city chose me of 
the common council, and soon after an alderman ; and the 
citizens at large chose me a burgess to represent them in 
Assembly. This latter station was the more agreeable to 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



129 



me, as I was at length tired with sitting there to hear de- 
bates, in which, as clerk, I could take no part, and which 
were often so unentertaining that I was induc'd to amuse 
myself with making magic squares or circles, or any thing 
to avoid weariness ; and I conceiv'd my becoming a mem- 
ber would enlarge my power of doing good. I would 
not, however, insinuate that my ambition was not flatter'd 
by all these promotions ; it certainly was ; for, consider- 
ing my low beginning, they were great things to me ; and 
they were still more pleasing, as being so man}^ spontane- 
ous testimonies of the public good opinion, and by me 
entirely unsolicited. 

The office of justice of the peace I try'd a little, by 
attending a few courts, and sitting on the bench to hear 
causes ; but finding that more knowledge of the common 
law than 1 possess'd was necessary to act in that station 
with credit, I gradually withdrew from it, excusing myself 
by my being oblig'd to attend the higher duties of a leg- 
islator in the Assembly. My election to this trust was 
repeated every year for ten years, without my ever asking 
any elector for his vote, or signifying, either directly or 
indirectly, any desire of being chosen. On taking my 
seat in the House, my son was appointed their clerk. 

The year following, a treaty being to be held with the 
Indians at Carlisle, the governor sent a message to the 
House, proposing that they should nominate some of their 
members, to be join'd with some members of council, as 
commissioners for that purpose. The House named the 
speaker (Mr. Norris) and myself ; and, being commission'd, 
we went to Carlisle, and met the Indians accordingly. 

As those people are extreamly apt to get drunk, and, 
when so, are very quarrelsome and disorderly, we strictly 
forbad the selling any liquor to them ; and when they 
complain'd of this restriction, we told them that if they 
would continue sober during the treaty, we would give 
them plenty of rum when business was over. They 
promis'd this, and they kept their promise, because they 



I30 FRANKLIN 

could g-ct no liquor, and the treaty was conducted very 
orderly, and concluded to mutual satisfaction. They then 
claitn'd and receiy'd the rum : this \yas in the afternoon : 
they \yere near one hundred men. \yomen, and children, 
and \yere lodg-'d in temporary cabins, built in the form of 
a square, just Nyithout the town. In the eyening. hearing 
a great noise among them, the commissioners walk'd out 
to see what was the matter. We found they had made a 
great bonfire in the middle of the square : they were all 
drunk, men and women, quarreling and fighting. Their 
dark-colour'd bodies, half naked, seen only by the gloomy 
light of the bonfire, running- after and beating one another 
with firebrands, accompanied by their horrid yellings. 
form'd a scene the most resembling our ideas of hell that 
could well be imagin"d ; there was no appeasing the 
tumult, and we retired to our lodging. At midnight a 
number ot them came thundering at our door, demanding 
more rum. of which we took no notice. 

The next day. sensible they had misbehay'd in giying 
us that disturbance, they sent three of their old counselors 
to make their apology. The orator acknowledg'd the 
fault, but laid it upon the rum ; and then endeayored to 
excuse the rum by saying. *' Tht Great Spirit, :c/io trujifi all 
thingSs fftiuf^ t^'try thing for sotfw use, ami zvh<UcxYr ust' he 
dtsiptd any thing for, that use it should alicays he put to. 
Xoiv, when he nteule rum. he said, ' Let this be for the Indians 
to get drunk with* and it must be so." And. indeed, if it be 
the design of Proyidence to extirpate these sayages in 
order to make room for cultiyators of the earth, it seems 
not improbable that rum may be the appointed means. 
It has already annihilated all the tribes who formerly 
inhabited the sea-coast. 

In 1751. Dr. Thomas Bond, a particular friend of mine, 
conceiyed the idea of establishing a hospital in Philadel- 
phia ^^a yery beneficent design, which has been ascrib'd to 
me. but was originally his\ for the reception and cure of 
poor sick persons, whether inhabitants of the proyince or 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY I3I 

strangers. He was zealous and active in endeavouring- 
to procure subscriptions for it, but the proposal being a 
novelty in America, and at first not well understood, he 
met but with small success. 

At length he came to me with the compliment that he 
found there was no such thing as carrying a public- 
spirited project through without my being concern'd in 
it. " For," says he, " I am often ask'd by those to whom 
I propose subscribing, Have you consulted Franklin upon 
this business? And what does he think of it? And when 
I tell them that I have not (supposing it rather out of 
your line), they do not subscribe, but say they will con- 
sider of it." I enquired into the nature and probable 
utility of his scheme, and receiving from him a very satis- 
factory explanation, I not only subscrib'd to it myself, 
but engag'd heartily in the design of procuring subscrip- 
tions from others. Previously, however, to the solicitation, 
I endeavoured to prepare the minds of the people by writ- 
ing on the subject in the newspapers, which was my usual 
custom in such cases, but which he had omitted. 

The subscriptions afterwards were more free and 
generous ; but, beginning to flag, I saw they would be 
insutlficient without some assistance from the Assembly, 
and therefore propos'd to petition for it, which was done. 
The country members did not at first relish the project; 
they objected that it could only be serviceable to the city, 
and therefore the citizens alone should be at the expense 
of it ; and they doubted whether the citizens themselves 
generally approv'd of it. My allegation on the contrary, 
that it met with such approbation as to leave no doubt of 
our being able to raise two thousand pounds by voluntary 
donations, they considered as a most extravagant suppo- 
sition, and utterly impossible. 

On this I form'd my plan ; and, asking leave to bring 
in a bill for incorporating the contributors according to 
the prayer of their petition, and granting them a blank 
sum of money, which leave was obtained chiefly on the 



n3 



FRANKLIN 



consideration that the House could throw the bill out if 
they did not like it, I drew it so as to make the important 
clause a conditional one, viz., " And be it enacted, by the 
authority aforesaid, that when the said contributors shall 
have met and chosen their managers and treasurer, and 

shall have raised by their contributions a capital stock of 

value (the yearly interest of which is to be applied to the 
accommodating of the sick poor in the said hospital, free 
of charge for diet, attendance, advice, and medicines), 
and shall make the same appear to the satisfaction of the 
speaker of the Assembly for the time being, that then it shall 
and may be lawful for the said speaker, and he is hereby 
required, to sign an order on the provincial treasurer for 
the pavment of two thousand pounds, in two vearly pay- 
ments, to the treasurer of the said hospital, to be applied 
to the founding, building, and finishing of the same." 

This condition carried the bill through ; for the mem- 
bers, who had oppos'd the grant, and now conceiv'd they 
might have the credit of being charitable without the ex- 
pence, agreed to its passage ; and then, in soliciting sub- 
scriptions among the people, we urg'd the conditional 
promise of the law as an additional motive to give, since 
every man's donation would be doubled ; thus the clause 
work'd both ways. The subscriptions accordingly soon 
exceeded the requisite sum, and we claim'd and receiv'd 
the public gift, which enabled us to carrv the design into 
execution. A convenient and handsome building was soon 
erected ; the institution has by constant experience been 
found useful, and flourishes to this day ; and I do not re- 
member any of my political manoeuvres, the success of 
which gave me at the time more pleasure, or wherein, 
after thinking of it, I more easily excus'd myself for hav- 
ing made some use of cunning. 

It was about this time that another projector, the Rev. 
Gilbert Tennent, came to me with a request that I would 
assist him in procuring a subscription for erecting a new 
meeting-house. It was to be for the use of a congrega- 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 33 

tion he had gathered among the Presbyterians, who were 
originally disciples of Mr. Whitefield. Unwilling to make 
myself disagreeable to my fellow-citizens by too frequently 
soliciting their contributions, I absolutely refus'd. He 
then desired I would furnish him with a list of the names 
of persons 1 knew by experience to be generous and 
public-spirited. I thought it would be unbecoming in 
me, after their kind compliance with my solicitations, to 
mark them out to be worried by other beggars, and there- 
fore refus'd also to give such a list. He then desir'd 1 
would at least give him my advice. "That I will readily 
do," said I ; " and, in the first place, I advise you to apply 
to all those whom you know will give something; next, 
to those whom you are uncertain whether they will give 
any thing or not, and show them the list of those who 
have given ; and, lastly, do not neglect those who you are 
sure will give nothing, for in some of them you may be 
mistaken." He laugh'd and thank'd me, and said he 
would take my advice. He did so, for he ask'd of every- 
body, and he obtain'd a much larger sum than he expected, 
with which he erected the capacious and very elegant 
meeting-house that stands in Arch-street. 

Our city, tho' laid out with a beautiful! regularity, the 
streets large, strait, and crossing each other at right an- 
gles, had the disgrace of suffering those streets to remain 
long unpav'd, and in wet weather the wheels of heavy 
carriages plough'd them into a quagmire, so that it was 
difiicult to cross them ; and in dry weather the dust was 
offensive. I had liv'd near what was call'd the Jersey 
Market, and saw with pain the inhabitants wading in mud 
while purchasing their provisions. A strip of ground 
down the middle of that market was at length pav'd with 
brick, so that, being once in the market, they had firm 
footing, but were often over shoes in dirt to get there. 
By talking and writing on the subject, I was at length in- 
strumental in getting the street pav'd with stone between 
the market and the brick'd foot-pavement that was on 



^>4 



FRANKLIN 



each side next the houses. This, for some time. g:ave an 
easv access to the market dry-shod ; but. the rest ot the 
street not bein^ pav'd. whenever a carriage came out ot 
the mud upon this pavement, it shook otT and left its dirt 
upon it. and it was soon cover'd with mire, which was not 
remov'd. the city as yet having no scavengers. 

After some inquirv. 1 found a poor, industrious man. 
who was willing to undertake keeping the pavement clean, 
bv sweepings it twice a week, carrying off the dirt from 
before all the neighbours' doors, for the sum of sixpence 
per month, to be paid by each house. I then wrote and 
printed a paper setting forth the advantages to the neigh- 
bourhood that might be obtain"d by this small expense : 
the g^reater ease in keeping our houses clean, so much dirt 
not being brought in by people's feet ; the benefit to the 
shops bv more custom, etc.. etc.. as buyers could more 
easily get at them : and by hot having, in windy weather, 
the dust blown in upon their goods, etc.. etc. I sent one 
of these papers to each house, and in a day or two went 
round to see who would subscribe an agreement to pay 
these sixpences : it wa$ unanimouslvsign'd. and for a time 
well executed. All the inhabitants of the city were de- 
lighted with the cleanliness of the pavement that sur- 
rounded the market, it being a convenience to all. and this 
rais'd a general desire to have all the streets paved, and 
made the people more willing to submit to a tax for that 
purpose. 

After some time 1 drew a bill for paving the city, and 
brought it into the Assembly. It was just before 1 went 
to England, in irST* ^r*^^ <^i^^ "^^^ P^^^* ^^^^ I ^^'^^ gone, and 
then with an alteration in the mode of assessment, which 
I thought not for the better, but with an additional pro- 
vision for lighting as well as paving the streets, which 
was a great improvement. It was bv a private person, 
the late Mr. John Clifton, his giving a sample of the utility 
of lamps, bv placing one at his door, that the people were 
first impress'd with the idea of enlighting all the city. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 35 

The honour of this public benefit has also been ascrib'd 
to me, but it belongs truly to that gentleman. I did but 
follow his example, and have only some merit to claim 
respecting the form of our lamps, as differing from the 
globe lamps we were at first supply 'd with from London. 
Those we found inconvenient in these respects : they ad- 
mitted no air below ; the smoke, therefore, did not readily 
go out above, but circulated in the globe, lodg'd on its 
inside, and soon obstructed the light they were intended 
to afford ; giving, besides, the daily trouble of wiping 
them clean ; and an accidental stroke on one of them 
would demolish it, and render it totally useless. 1 there- 
fore suggested the composing them of four flat panes, 
with a long funnel above to draw up the smoke, and crev- 
ices admitting air below, to facilitate the ascent of the 
smoke ; by this means they were kept clean, and did not 
grow dark in a few hours, as the London lamps do, but 
continu'd bright till morning, and an accidental stroke 
would generally break but a single pane, easily repair'd. 

I have sometimes wonder'd that the Londoners did 
not, from the effect holes in the bottom of the globe lamps 
us'd at Vauxhall have in keeping them clean, learn to 
have such holes in their street lamps. But, these holes 
being made for another purpose, viz., to communicate 
flame more suddenly to the wick by a little flax hanging 
down thro' them, the other use, of letting in air, seems not 
to have been thought of ; and therefore, after the lamps 
have been lit a few hours, the streets of London arc very 
poorly illuminated. 

The mention of these improvements puts me in mind 
of one I propos'd, when in London, to Dr. Fothergill, who 
was among the best men I have known, and a great pro- 
moter of useful projects. I had observ'd that the streets, 
when dry, were never swept, and the light dust carried 
away ; but it was suffer'd to accumulate till wet weather 
reduc'd it to mud, and then, after lying some days so deep 
on the pavement that there was no crossing but in paths 



136 FRANKLIN 

kept clean by poor people with brooms, it was with great 
labour rak'd together and thrown up into carts open 
above, the sides of which suffer'd some of the slush at 
every jolt on the pavement to shake out and fall, some- 
times to the annoyance of foot-passengers. The reason 
given for not sweeping the dusty streets was, that the dust 
would fly into the windows of shops and houses. 

An accidental occurrence had instructed me how much 
sweeping might be done in a little time. I found at my 
door in Craven-street, one morning, a poor woman sweep- 
ing my pavement with a birch broom ; she appeared very 
pale and feeble, as just come out of a fit of sickness. I 
ask'd who employ'd her to sweep there ; she said, " No- 
body ; but I am very poor and in distress, and I sweeps 
before gentlefolkses doors, and hopes they will give me 
something." I bid her sweep the whole street clean, and 
I would give her a shilling ; this was at nine o'clock ; at 
12 she came for the shilling. From the slowness I saw at 
first in her working, I could scarce believe that the work 
was done so soon, and sent my servant to examine it, who 
reported that the whole street was swept perfectly clean, 
and all the dust plac'd in the gutter, which was in the 
middle ; and the next rain wash'd it quite away, so that 
the pavement and even the kennel were perfectly clean. 

I then judg'd that, if that feeble woman could sweep 
such a street in three hours, a strong, active man might 
have done it in half the time. And here let me remark 
the convenience of having but one gutter in such a nar- 
row street, running down its middle, instead of two, one 
on each side, near the footway ; for where all the rain that 
falls on a street runs from the sides and meets in the mid- 
dle, it forms there a current strong enough to wash away 
all the mud it meets with ; but when divided into two 
channels, it is often too weak to cleanse either, and only 
makes the mud it finds more fluid, so that the wheels of 
carriages and feet of horses throw and dash it upon the 
foot-pavement, which is thereby rendered foul and slip- 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 137 

pery, and sometimes splash it upon those who are walk- 
ing. My proposal, communicated to the good doctor, 
was as follows : 

" For the more effectual cleaning and keeping clean 
the streets of London and Westminster, it is proposed that 
the several watchmen be contracted with to have the dust 
swept up in dry seasons, and the mud rak'd up at other 
times, each in the several streets and lanes of his round ; 
that they be furnish'd with brooms and other proper in- 
struments for these purposes, to be kept at their respec- 
tive stands, ready to furnish the poor people they may 
employ in the service. 

" That in the dry summer months the dust be all swept 
up into heaps at proper distances, before the shops and 
windows of houses are usually opened, when the scaven- 
gers, with close-covered carts, shall also carry it all away. 

" That the mud, when rak'd up, be not left in heaps to 
be spread abroad again by the wheels of carriages and 
trampling of horses, but that the scavengers be provided 
with bodies of carts, not plac'd high upon wheels, but low 
upon sliders, with lattice bottoms, which, being cover'd 
with straw, will retain the mud thrown into them, and 
permit the water to drain from it, whereby it will become 
much lighter, water making the greatest part of its weight ; 
these bodies of carts to be plac'd at convenient distances, 
and the mud brought to them in wheel-barrows ; they re- 
maining where plac'd till the mud is drain'd, and then 
horses brought to draw them away." 

I have since had doubts of the practicability of the lat- 
ter part of this proposal, on account of the narrowness of 
some streets, and the difficulty of placing the draining- 
sleds so as not to encumber too much the passage ; but I 
am still of opinion that the former, requiring the dust to 
be swept up and carry'd away before the shops are open, 
is very practicable in the summer, when the days are long ; 
for, in walking thro' the Strand and Fleet-street one morn- 
ing at seven o'clock, I observ'd there was not one shop 



13S FRANKLIN 

open, tho' it had been daylight and the sun up above three 
hours ; the inhabitants of London chusing vokintarily to 
live much by candle-light, and sleep by sunshine, and yet 
often complain, a little absurdly, of the duty on candles, 
and the high price of tallow. 

Some may think these trifling matters not worth mind. 
ing or relating ; but when they consider that tho' dust 
blown into the eyes of a single person, or into a single 
shop on a windy day, is but of small importance, vet the 
great number of the instances in a populous city, and its 
frequent repetitions give it weight and consequence, per- 
haps thev will not censure very severelv those who bestow 
some attention to affairs of this seeminglv low nature. 
Human felicity is produc'd not so much by great pieces 
of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advan- 
tages that occur every dav. Thus, if you teach a poor 
young man to shave himself, and keep his razor in order, 
vou mav contribute more to the happiness of his life than 
in giving him a thousand guineas. The money may be 
soon spent, the regret only remaining of having foolishly 
consumed it ; but in the other case, he escapes the fre- 
quent vexation of waiting for barbers, and of their some- 
times dirty fingers, offensive breaths, and dull razors ; he 
shaves when most convenient to him, and enjoys dailv the 
pleasure of its being done with a good instrument. With 
these sentiments I have hazarded the few preceding pages, 
hoping thev mav afford hints which some time or other 
may be useful to a city I love, having lived many years 
in it verv happily, and perhaps to some of our towns in 
America. 

Having been for some time employed by the postmas- 
ter-general of America as his comptroller in regulating 
several offices, and bringing the officers to account, I was, 
upon his death in 1753. appointed, jointlv with Mr. William 
Hunter, to succeed him, bv a commission from the post- 
master-general in England. The American office never 
had hitherto paid any thing to that of Britain. We were 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



139 



to have six hundred pounds a year between us, if we could 
make that sum out of the profits of the office. To do this, 
a variety of improvements were necessary ; some of these 
were inevitably at first expensive, so that in the first four 
years the office became above nine hundred pounds in 
debt to us. But it soon after began to repay us ; and 
before I was displac'd by a freak of the ministers, of which 
I shall speak hereafter, we had brought it to yield tJiree 
times as much clear revenue to the crown as the postoffice 
of Ireland. Since that imprudent transaction, the}^ have 
receiv'd from it — not one farthing ! 

The business of the postoffice occasion'd my taking a 
journey this year to New England, where the College of 
Cambridge, of their own motion, presented me with the 
degree of Master of Arts. Yale College, in Connecticut, 
had before made me a similar compliment. Thus, with- 
out studying in any college, I came to partake of their 
honours. They were conferr'd in consideration of my 
improvements and discoveries in the electric branch of 
natural philosophy. 

In 1754, war with France being again apprehended, a 
congress of commissioners from the different colonies was, 
by an order of the Lords of Trade, to be assembled at 
Albany, there to confer with the chiefs of the Six Nations 
concerning the means of defending both their country and 
ours. Governor Hamilton, having receiv'd this order, 
acquainted the House with it, requesting they would fur- 
nish proper presents for the Indians, to be given on this 
occasion; and naming the speaker (Mr. Norris) and myself 
to join Mr. Thomas Penn and Mr. Secretary Peters as 
commissioners to act for Pennsylvania. The House ap- 
prov'd the nomination, and provided the goods for the 
present, and tho' they did not much like treating out of 
the provinces ; and we met the other commissioners at 
Albany about the middle of June. 

In our way thither, I projected and drew a plan for the 
union of all the colonies under one government, so far as 



I40 



FRANKLIN 



might be necessary for defense, and other important gen- 
eral purposes. As we pass'd thro' New York, I had there 
shown my project to Mr. James Alexander and Mr. Ken- 
nedy, two gentlemen of great knowledge in public affairs, 
and, being fortified by their approbation, I ventur'd to lay 
it before Congress. It then appeared that several of the 
commissioners had form'd plans of the same kind. A pre- 
vious question was first taken, whether a union should be 
established, which pass'd in the affirmative unanimously. 
A committee was then appointed, one member from each 
colony, to consider the several plans and report. Mine 
happen'd to be preferr'd, and, with a few amendments, was 
accordingly reported. 

By this plan the general government was to be admin- 
istered by a president-general, appointed and supported 
by the crown, and a grand council was to be chosen by 
the representatives of the people of the several colonies, 
met in their respective assemblies. The debates upon it 
in Congress went on daily, hand in hand with the Indian 
business. Many objections and difficulties were started, 
but at length they were all overcome, and the plan was 
unanimously agreed to, and copies ordered to be trans- 
mitted to the Board of Trade and to the assemblies of the 
several provinces. Its fate was singular: the assemblies 
did not adopt it, as they all thought there was too much 
prerogative in it, and in England it was judg'd to have too 
much of the democratic. The Board of Trade therefore 
did not approve of it, nor recommend it for the approba- 
tion of his majesty ; but another scheme was form'd, sup- 
posed to answer the same purpose better, whereby the 
governors of the provinces, with some members of their 
respective councils, were to meet and order the raising of 
troops, building of forts, etc., and to draw on the treasury 
of Great Britain for the expense, which was afterwards 
to be refunded by an act of Parliament laying a tax on 
America. My plan, with my reasons in support of it, is 
to be found among m}'^ political papers that are printed. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY I4I 

Being the winter following in Boston, I had much 
conversation with Governor Shirley upon both the plans. 
Part of what passed between us on the occasion may also 
be seen among those papers. The different and contrary 
reasons of dislike to my plan makes me suspect that it 
was really the true medium ; and I am still of opinion 
it would have been happy for both sides the water if 
it had been adopted. The colonies, so united, would have 
been sufficiently strong to have defended themselves ; 
there would then have been no need of troops from Eng- 
land ; of course, the subsequent pretence for taxing Amer- 
ica, and the bloody contest it occasioned, would have 
been avoided. But such mistakes are not new : history is 
full of the errors of states and princes. 

" Look round the habitable world, how few 
Know their own good, or, knowing it, pursue ! " 

Those who govern, having much business on their 
hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of consid- 
ering and carrying into execution new projects. The 
best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from 
previous zvisdom, but forcd by the occasion. 

The Governor of Pennsylvania, in sending it down to 
the Assembly, express'd his approbation of the plan, " as 
appearing to him to be drawn up with great clearness 
and strength of judgment, and therefore recommended it 
as well worthy of their closest and most serious atten- 
tion." The House, however, by the management of a 
certain member, took it up when I happen'd to be absent, 
which I thought not very fair, and reprobated it without 
paying any attention to it at all, to my no small mortifi- 
cation. 

In my journey to Boston this year, I met at New 
York with our new governor, Mr. Morris, just arriv'd 
there from England, with whom I had been before inti- 
mately acquainted. He brought a commission to super- 
sede Mr. Hamilton, who, tir'd with the disputes his pro- 



14^ 



FRANKLIN 



prietary instructions subjected him to, had resign'd. Mr. 
Morris ask'd me if I thought he must expect as uncom- 
fortable an administration. 1 said, "No; you may, on 
the contrary, have a very comfortable one, if you will 
only take care not to enter into any dispute with the 
Assembly." *' My dear friend," says he, pleasantly, " how 
can vou advise my avoiding disputes? You know I love 
disputing ; it is one of my greatest pleasures ; however, 
to show the regard I have for your counsel, I promise 
you 1 will, if possible, avoid them." He had some reason 
for loving to dispute, being eloquent, an acute sophister, 
and, therefore, generally successful in argumentative con- 
versation. He had been brought up to it from a bov. his 
father, as I have heard, accustoming his children to dis- 
pute with one another for his diversion, while sitting at 
table after dinner; but I think the practice was not wise; 
for in the course of my observation, these disputing, con- 
tradicting, and confuting people are generally unfortunate 
in their affairs. They get victory sometimes, but they 
never sret irood will, which would be of more use to them. 
We parted, he going to Philadelphia, and I to Boston. 

In returning. I met at New York with the votes of the 
Assembly, by which it appear'd that, notwithstanding his 
promise to me, he and the House were already in high 
contention ; and it was a continual battle between them 
as long as he retain'd the government. I had my share 
of it ; for, as soon as 1 got back to my seat in the Assem- 
blv. 1 was put on every committee for answering his 
speeches and messages, and by the committees always de- 
sired to make the drafts. Our answers, as well as his 
messages, were often tart, and sometimes indecently abu- 
sive ; and, as he knew I wrote for the Assembly, one 
might have imagined that, when we met, we could hardly 
avoid cutting throats ; but he was so good-natur'd a man 
that no personal difference between him and me was occa- 
sion'd by the contest, and we often din'd together. 

One afternoon, in the height of this public quarrel, we 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



143 



met in the street. "Franklin," says he, "you must go 
home with me and spend the evening; I am to have some 
company that you will like; " and, taking me by the arm, 
he led me to his house. In gay conversation over our 
wine, after supper, he told us, jokingly, that he much ad- 
mir'd the idea of Sancho Paiiza, who, when it was pro- 
posed to give him a government, requested it might be a 
government of blacks, as then, if he could not agree with 
his people, he might sell them. One of his friends, who 
sat next to me, says, " Franklin, why do you continue to 
side with these damn'd Quakers? Had not you better 
sell them ? The proprietor would give you a good price." 
" The governor," says I, " has not yet blacked them 
enough." He, indeed, had labored hard to blacken the 
Assembly in all his messages, but they wip'd off his color- 
ing as fast as he laid it on, and plac'd it, in return, thick 
upon his own face ; so that, finding he was likely to be 
negrofied himself, he, as well as Mr. Hamilton, grew tir'd 
of the contest, and quitted the government. 

These public quarrels were all at bottom owing to the 
proprietaries, our hereditary governors, who, when any 
expense was to be incurred for the defense of their prov- 
ince, with incredible meanness instructed their deputies 
to pass no act for levying the necessary taxes, unless their 
vast estates were in the same act expressly excused ; and 
they had even taken bonds of these deputies to observe 
such instructions. The Assemblies for three years held 
out against this injustice, tho' constrained to bend at last. 
At length Captain Denny, who was Governor Morris's 
successor, ventured to disobey those instructions: how 
that was brought about I shall show hereafter. 

But I am got forward too fast with my story ; there 
are still some transactions to be mention'd that happened 
during the administration of Governor Morris. 

War being in a manner commenced with France, the 
government of Massachusetts Bay projected an attack 
upon Crown Point, and sent Mr. Quincy to Pennsylvania, 



U4 



FRANKLIN 



and Mr. Pownall, afterward Governor Pownall, to New 
York, to solicit assistance. As I was in the Assembly, 
knew its temper, and was Mr. Quincy's countryman, he 
appli'd to me for my influence and assistance. I dictated 
his address to them, which was well receiv'd. Thev 
voted an aid of ten thousand pounds, to be laid out in 
provisions. But the governor refusing his assent to their 
bill (which included this with other sums granted for the 
use of the crown), unless a clause were inserted exempt- 
ing the proprietary estate from bearing anv part of the 
tax that would be necessary, the Assembly, tho' very de- 
sirous of making their grant to New England effectual, 
were at a loss how to accomplish it. Mr. Ouincy labored 
hard with the governor to obtain his assent, but he was 
obstinate. 

I then suggested a method of doing the business with- 
out the governor, by orders on the trustees of the Loan 
Office, which, by law, the Assembly had the right of 
drawing. There was, indeed, little or no monev at that 
time in the office, and therefore I propos'd that the orders 
should be pavable in a year, and to bear an interest of five 
per cent. With these orders I suppos'd the provisions 
might easilv be purchas'd. The Assembly, with very 
little hesitation, adopted the proposal. The orders were 
immediatelv printed, and I was one of the committee 
directed to sign and dispose of them. The fund for pav- 
ing them was the interest of all the paper currency then 
extant in the province upon loan, together with the rev- 
enue arising from the excise, which being known to be 
more than sufficient, they obtain'd instant credit, and 
were not onlv receiv'd in payment for the provisions, but 
many monev'd people, who had cash lying by them, vested 
it in those orders, which they found advantageous, as 
they bore interest while upon hand, and might on anv 
occasion be used as money ; so that they were eagerlv all 
bought up. and in a few weeks none of them were to be 
seen. Thus this important affair was by ni}- means com- 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY I45 

pleated. Mr. Quincy return'd thanks to the Assembly in 
a handsome memorial, went home highly pleas'd with the 
success of his embassy, and ever after bore for me the 
most cordial and affectionate friendship. 

The British government, not chusing to permit the 
union of the colonics as propos'd at Albany, and to trust 
that union with their defense, lest they should thereby 
grow too military, and feel their own strength, suspicions 
and jealousies at this time being entertain'd of them, sent 
over General Braddock with two regiments of regular 
English troops for that purpose. He landed at Alexan- 
dria, in Virginia, and thence march'd to Frederictown, 
in Maryland, where he halted for carriages. Our Assem- 
bly apprehending, from some information, that he had 
conceived violent prejudices against them, as averse to 
the service, wish'd me to wait upon him, not as from them, 
but as postmaster-general, under the guise of proposing 
to settle with him the mode of conducting with most 
celerity and certainty the despatches between him and 
the governors of the several provinces, with whom he 
must necessarily have continual correspondence, and of 
which they propos'd to pay the expense. My son accom- 
panied me on this journey. 

We found the general at Frederictown, waiting impa- 
tiently for the return of those he had sent thro' the back 
parts of Maryland and Virginia to collect waggons. I 
stayed with him several days, din'd with him daily, and 
had full opportunity of removing all his prejudices, by 
the information of what the Assembly had before his ar- 
rival actually done, and were still willing to do, to facili- 
tate his operations. When I was about to depart, the 
returns of waggons to be obtained were brought in, by 
which it appear'd that they amounted only to twenty-five, 
and not all of those were in serviceable condition. The 
general and all the officers were surpris'd, declar'd the 
expedition was then at an end, being impossible ; and ex- 
claim'd against the ministers for ignorantly landing them 
10 



146 FRANKLIN 

in a country destitute of the means of conveying their 
stores, baggage, etc., not less than one hundred and fifty 
waggons being necessary. 

I happen'd to say I thought it was pity they had not 
been landed rather in Pennsylvania, as in that country 
almost every farmer had his waggon. The general eager- 
ly laid hold of my words, and said, " Then you, sir, who 
are a man of interest there, can probably procure them 
for us; and I beg you will undertake it." I ask'd what 
terms were to be ofler'd the owners of the waggons ; and 
I was desir'd to put on paper the terms that appeared to 
me necessary. This I did, and they were agreed to, and a 
commission and instructions accordingly prepar'd imme- 
diately. What those terms were will appear in the ad- 
vertisement I publish'd as soon as I arriv'd at Lancaster, 
which being, from the great and sudden effect it pro- 
duc'd, a piece of some curiosity, I shall insert it at 
length, as follows : 

" Advertisement. 

" Lancaster, April 26, lyjS- 

*' Whereas, one hundred and fifty waggons, with four 
horses to each waggon, and fifteen hundred saddle or 
pack horses, are wanted for the service of his majesty's 
forces now about to rendezvous at Will's Creek, and his 
excellency General Braddock having been pleased to em- 
power me to contract for the hire of the same, I hereby 
give notice that I shall attend for that pu'-pose at Lan- 
caster from this day to next Wednesday evening, and at 
York from next Thursday morning till Friday evening, 
where I shall be ready to agree for waggons and teams, 
or single horses, on the following terms, viz. : i. That there 
shall be paid for each waggon, with four good horses and 
a driver, fifteen shillings per diem ; and for each able 
horse with a pack-saddle, or other saddle and furniture, 
two shillings per diem ; and for each able horse without 
a saddle, eighteen pence per diem. 2. That the pay com- 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



147 



mence from the time of their joining the forces at Will's 
Creek, which must be on or before the 20th of May en- 
suing, and that a reasonable allowance be paid over and 
above for the time necessary for their travelling to Will's 
Creek and home again after their discharge. 3. Each 
waggon and team, and every saddle or pack horse, is to 
be valued by indifferent persons chosen between me and 
the owner ; and in case of the loss of any waggon, team, 
or other horse in the service, the price according to such 
valuation is to be allowed and paid. 4. Seven days' pay 
is to be advanced and paid in hand by me to the owner 
of each waggon and team, or horse, at the time of con- 
tracting, if required, and the remainder to be paid by 
General Braddock, or by the paymaster of the army, at 
the time of their discharge, or from time to time, as it 
shall be demanded. 5. No drivers of waggons, or persons 
taking care of the hired horses, are on any account to be 
called upon to do the duty of soldiers, or be otherwise 
employed than in conducting or taking care of their car- 
riages or horses. 6. All oats, Indian corn, or other forage 
that waggons or horses bring to the camp, more than is 
necessary for the subsistence of the horses, is to be taken 
for the use of the army, and a reasonable price paid for 
the same. 

" Note. — My son, William Franklin, is empowered to 
enter into like contracts with any person in Cumberland 
county. B. Franklin." 

" To the inhabit ajtts of the Counties of Lancaster, York, and 

Cumberland. 

" Friends and Countrymen, 

" Being occasionally at the camp at Frederic a few 
days since, I found the general and officers extremely ex- 
asperated on account of their not being supplied with 
horses and carriages, which had been expected from this 
province, as most able to furnish them ; but, through the 
dissensions between our governor and Assembly, money 



148 FRANKLIN 

had not been provided, nor any steps taken for that 
purpose. 

" It was proposed to send an armed force immediately 
into these counties, to seize as many of the best carriages 
and horses as should be wanted, and compel as many 
persons into the service as would be necessary to drive 
and take care of them. 

" I apprehended that the progress of British soldiers 
through these counties on such an occasion, especially 
considering the temper thcv are in, and their resentment 
asrainst us, would be attended with many and g-reat incon- 
veniences to the inhabitants, and therefore more willingly 
took the trouble of trving first what might be done by 
fair and equitable means. The people of these back coun- 
ties have lately complained to the Assembly that a suffi- 
cient currency was wanting ; you have an opportunity of 
receiving and dividing among )'ou a very considerable 
sum ; for, if the service of this expedition should continue, 
as it is more than probable it will, for one hundred and 
twenty days, the hire of these waggons and horses will 
amount to upward of thirty thousand pounds, which will 
be paid you in silver and gold of the king's money. 

" The service will be light and easy, for the army will 
scarce march above twelve miles per day, and the wag- 
gons and baggage-horses, as they carry those things that 
are absolutely necessary to the welfare of the army, must 
march with the army, and no faster ; and are, for the 
army's sake, alwavs placed where they can be most 
secure, whether in a march or in a camp. 

" If you are reallv, as I believe you are, good and loval 
subjects to his majesty, you may now do a most accept- 
able service, and make it easy to yourselves ; for three or 
four of such as can not separately spare from the business 
of their plantations a waggon and four horses and a 
driver, may do it together, one furnishing the waggon, 
another one or two horses, and another the driver, and 
divide the pay proportionably between you ; but if you 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY I49 

do not this service to your king and country voluntarily, 
when such good pay and reasonable terms are offered to 
you, your loyalty will be strongly suspected. The king's 
business must be done ; so many brave troops, come so 
far for your defense, must not stand idle through your 
backwardness to do what may be reasonably expected from 
you ; waggons and horses must be had ; violent measures 
will probably be used, and you will be left to seek for a 
recompense where you can find it, and your case, perhaps, 
be little pitied or regarded. 

" I have no particular interest in this affair, as, except 
the satisfaction of endeavoring to do good, I shall have 
only my labor for my pains. If this method of obtaining 
the waggons and horses is not likely to succeed, I am 
obliged to send word to the general in fourteen days ; and 
I suppose Sir John St. Clair, the hussar, with a body of 
soldiers, will immediately enter the province for the pur- 
pose, which I shall be sorry to hear, because I am very 
sincerely and truly your friend and well-wisher, 

" B. Franklin." 

I received of the general about eight hundred pounds, 
to be disbursed in advance-money to the waggon owners, 
etc. ; but that sum being insufficient, I advanc'd upward 
of two hundred pounds more, and in two weeks the one 
hundred and fifty waggons, with two hundred and fifty- 
nine carrying horses, were on their march for the camp. 
The advertisement promised payment according to the 
valuation, in case any waggon or horse should be lost. 
The owners, however, alleging they did not know General 
Braddock, or what dependence might be had on his prom- 
ise, insisted on my bond for the performance, which I 
accordingly gave them. 

While I was at the camp, supping one evening with 
the officers of Colonel Dunbar's regiment, he represented 
to me his concern for the subalterns, who, he said, were 
generally not in affluence, and could ill afford, in this dear 



,;0 VKANKllN 

countrv. to l:iv in the stores that might be necessary in so 
long: a march, thu^' a wilderness, where nothing was to be 
purchas'd. 1 cvMiimiserated their case, and resolved to 
endeavor procuring them some reliei. 1 said nothing, how- 
ever, to him of my intention, but wR-^te the next morning 
to the committee of the Assembly, who had the disposition 
of some public money, warmly recommending the case of 
these otVicei^s to their consideration, and proposing that a 
present should be sent them of necess;iries and refresh- 
ments. Mv son. who had some experience of a camp life. 
and of its wants, drew up a list for me. which I enclos'd 
in mv letter. The committee approved, and used such 
diligence that, conducted by my son. the stores arrived at 
the camp as soon as the waggons. They consisted of 
twenty parcels, each cv)nt:uning 

6 lbs. loaf su^r. i Gloucester cheese. 

t lbs. g\XH.i Muscvnado do. l kegg cv>ntaining iX'> lbs. gvxxi but:er. 

1 lb. gvxxi green lea. a doi, old Madeira wine. 

I lb. gvxxi K^hea do. a gtillons Jamaica spirits. 

6 lbs, gvxxi grv^und coffee, i Kettle flour of mustard. 

6 lbs, chvxx-«Iate. t weU-curVi hams, 

1-3 cwt. best white biscuit. i-3 doaen dry'd tongues, 

l-a lb, pepjxjr. 6 lbs. rice. 

I quart best white wine vinegar. 6 lbs. raisins. 

These twenty parcels, well pack'd. were placed on as 
many hon?es, each parcel, with the horse, being intended 
as a present for one officer. They were very thankfully 
received, and the kindness: acknowledg'd by letter? to me 
frv">ra the colonels of both regiments, in the most grateful 
terms. The general, too, was highly satisfied with my 
conduct in prvK'uring him the waggv^ns, etc.. and readilv 
paid mv account of disbursements, thanking me repeat- 
edly, and requesting my farther assistance in sending pro- 
visions after him. 1 undertook this also, and was busily 
emplov'd in it till we hearvi of his defeat, advancing for 
the service of my own money, upwarvls of one thousand 
pounds sterling, of which I sent him an account. It came 



AUTORIOGRAPIIY 



151 



to his liaiuls, luckily for 1110, a few days bcfi^'C the bat- 
tle, and he letiirn'd ine iiumediatcly an order on the 
jiavniaster for the round sum of one thousand pounds, 
leavini:^ tiie remainder to the next account. 1 consider 
this payment as <:^ood luck, having never been able to 
obtain that lemainder, of which more hereafter. 

This «^eneral was, I think, a brave man, and mi<;ht 
probably have made a figure as a good officer in some 
Furopean war. Hut he had too much self-confidence, too 
high an opinion of the validity of regular troops, and too 
mean a one of both Americans and Indians. George 
Croghan, our Indian interpreter, join'd him on his march 
with one hundred of those people, who might have been 
of great use to his army as guides, scouts, etc., if he had 
treated them kindly ; but he slighted and neglected them, 
and they gradually left him. 

In conversation with him one day, he was giving me 
some account of his intended progress. '* After taking 
Fort Duqucsne," says he, " I am to proceed to Niagara ; 
and, haying taken that, to Frontenac, if the season will 
allow time; and I suppose it will, for Duquesne can hardly 
detain me above three or four da^s ; and then I see noth- 
ing that can obstruct my march to Niagara." Having 
before revolv'd in my mind the long line his army must 
make in their march by a very narrt)w road, to be cut for 
them thrt)' the woods and bushes, and also what I had read 
of a former defeat of fifteen hundred French, who invaded 
the Iroquois country, 1 had conceiv'd some doubts and 
some fears for the event of the campaign. But I vcntur'd 
only to say, " To be sure, sir, if you arrive well before 
Duqucsne, with these fine troops, so well provided with 
artillery, that place not yet complcatly fortified, and as we 
hear with no very strong garrison, can probably make but 
a short resistance. The only danger I apprehend of ob- 
struction to your march is from ambuscades of Indians, 
who, by constant practice, are dexterous in laying and 
executing them ; and the slender line, near four miles long, 



J 53 FRANKLIN 

which your army must make, may expose it to be attack'd 
by surprise in its flanks, and to be cut like a thread into 
several pieces, which, from their distance, can not come 
up in time to support each other." 

He smil'd at my ignorance, and reply'd, " These sav- 
ages may, indeed, be a formidable enemy to your raw 
American militia, but upon the king's regular and disci- 
plin'd troops, sir, it is impossible they should make any 
impression," I was conscious of an impropriety in my 
disputing with a military man in matters of his profession, 
and said no more. The enemy, however, did not take the 
advantage of his army which I apprehended its long line 
of march expos'd it to, but let it advance without inter- 
ruption till within nine miles of the place; and then, when 
more in a body (for it had just passed a river, where the 
front had halted till all were come over), and in a more 
open part of the woods than any it had pass'd, attack'd its 
advanced guard by a heavy fire from behind trees and 
bushes, which was the first intelligence the general had 
of an enemy being near him. This guard being disor- 
dered, the general hurried the troops up to their assist- 
ance, which was done in great confusion, thro* waggons, 
baggage, and cattle ; and presently the fire came upon 
their flank : the officers, being on horseback, were more 
easily distinguish'd, pick'd out as marks, and fell very 
fast ; and the soldiers were crowded together in a huddle, 
having or hearing no orders, and standing to be shot at 
till two-thirds of them were killed ; and then, being seiz'd 
with a panick, the whole fled with precipitation. 

The waggoners took each a horse out of his team and 
scamper'd ; their example was immediately followed by 
others ; so that all the waggons, provisions, artillery, and 
stores were left to the enemy. The creneral, beinir 
wounded, was brought off with difficulty ; his secretary, 
Mr. Shirley, was killed by his side ; and out of eighty-six 
officers, sixty-three were killed or wounded, and seven 
hundred and fourteen men killed out of eleven hundred. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



153 



These eleven hundred had been picked men from the 
whole army ; the rest had been left behind with Colonel 
Dunbar, who was to follow with the heavier part of the 
stores, provisions, and baggage. The flyers, not being 
pursu'd, arriv'd at Dunbar's camp, and the panick they 
brought with them instantly seiz'd him and all his people ; 
and, tho' he had now above one thousand men, and the 
enemy who had beaten Braddock did not at most exceed 
four hundred Indians and French together, instead of 
proceeding, and endeavoring to recover some of the lost 
honour, he ordered all the stores, ammunition, etc., to be 
destroy 'd, that he might have more horses to assist his 
flight towards the settlements, and less lumber to remove. 
He was there met with requests from the governors of 
Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, that he would post 
his troops on the frontiers, so as to afford some protection 
to the inhabitants; but he continu'd his hasty march thro' 
all the country, not thinking himself safe till he arriv'd at 
Philadelphia, where the inhabitants could protect him. 
This whole transaction gave us Americans the first sus- 
picion that our exalted ideas of the prowess of British 
regulars had not been well founded. 1 

In their first march, too, from their landing till they 
got beyond the settlements, they had plundered and 
stripped the inhabitants, totally ruining some poor fami- 
lies, besides insulting, abusing, and confining the people 
if they remonstrated. This was enough to put us out of 
conceit of such defenders, if we had really wanted any. 
How different was the conduct of our French friends in 
1781, who, during a march thro' the most inhabited part 
of our country from Rhode Island to Virginia, near seven 
hundred miles, occasioned not the smallest complaint for 
the loss of a pig, a chicken, or even an apple. 

Captain Orme, who was one of the general's aids-de- 
camp, and, being grievously wounded, was brought off 
with him, and continu'd with him to his death, which 
happen'd in a few days, told me that he was totally silent 



154 



FRANKLIN 



all the first day, and at night only said, " W/io would have 
thought it ? " That he was silent again the following day, 
saying only at last, " We shall better know how to deal with 
them anotJicr time ; " and dy'd in a few minutes after. 

The secretary's papers, with all the general's orders, 
instructions, and correspondence, falling into the enemy's 
hands, they selected and translated into French a number 
of the articles, which they printed, to prove the hostile 
intentions of the British court before the declaration of 
war. Among these I saw some letters of the general to 
the ministry, speaking highly of the great service I had 
rendered the army, and recommending me to their notice. 
David Hume, too, who was some years after secretary to 
Lord Hertford, when minister in France, and afterward 
to General Conway, when secretary of state, told me he 
had seen among the papers in that office, letters from 
Braddock highly recommending me. But, the expedition 
having been unfortunate, my service, it seems, was not 
thought of much value, for those recommendations were 
never of any use to me. 

As to rewards from himself, I ask'd only one, which 
was, that he would give orders to his officers not to enlist 
any more of our bought servants, and that he would dis- 
charge such as had been already enlisted. This he readily 
granted, and several were accordingly return'd to their 
masters, on my application. Dunbar, when the command 
devolv'd on him, was not so generous. He being at Phil- 
adelphia, on his retreat, or rather flight, I apply 'd to him 
for the discharge of the servants of three poor farmers of 
Lancaster county that he had enlisted, reminding him of 
the late general's orders on that head. He promised me 
that, if the masters would come to him at Trenton, where 
he should be in a few days on his march to New York, 
he would there deliver their men to them. They accord- 
ingly were at the expense and trouble of going to Tren- 
ton, and there he refus'd to perform his promise, to their 
great loss and disappointment. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 155 

As soon as the loss of the waggons and horses was 
generally known, all the owners came upon me for the 
valuation which I had given bond to pay. Their de- 
mands gave me a great deal of trouble, my acquainting 
them that the money was ready in the paymaster's hands, 
but that orders for paying it must first be obtained from 
General Shirley, and my assuring them that I had apply 'd 
to that general by letter ; but, he being* at a distance, an 
answer could not soon be receiv'd, and they must have 
patience, all this was not sufficient to satisfy, and some 
began to sue me. General Shirley at length relieved me 
from this terrible situation by appointing commissioners 
to examine the claims, and ordering payment. They 
amounted to near twenty thousand pound, which to pay 
would have ruined me. 

Before we had the news of this defeat, the two Doc- 
tors Bond came to me with a subscription paper for rais- 
ing money to defray the expense of a grand firework, 
which it was intended to exhibit at a rejoicing on receipt 
of the news of our taking Fort Duquesne. I looked 
grave, and said it would, I thought, be time enough to 
prepare for the rejoicing when we knew we should have 
occasion to rejoice. They seem'd surpris'd that I did not 
immediately comply with their proposal. " Why the 

d 1 ! " says one of them, " you surely don't suppose 

that the fort will not be taken?" " I don't know that it 
will not be taken, but I know that the events of war are 
subject to great uncertainty." I gave them the reasons of 
my doubting; the subscription was dropt, and the pro- 
jectors thereby missed the mortification they would have 
undergone if the firework had been prepared. Dr. Bond, 
on some, other occasion afterward, said that he did not 
like Franklin's forebodings. 

Governor Morris, who had continually worried the 
Assembly with message after message before the defeat 
of Braddock, to beat them into the making of acts to raise 
money for the defense of the province, without taxing, 



156 



FRANKLIN 



among others, the proprietary estates, and had rejected 
all their bills for not having such an exempting clause, 
now redoubled his attacks with more hope of success, the 
danger and necessity being greater. The Assembly, how- 
ever, continu'd firm, believing they had justice on their 
side, and that it would be giving up an essential right if 
they suffered the governor to amend their money-bills. 
In one of the last, indeed, which was for granting fifty 
thousand pounds, his propos'd amendment was only of a 
single word. The bill express'd " that all estates, real and 
personal, were to be taxed, those of the proprietaries not 
excepted." His amendment was, for not read only: a 
small, but very material alteration. However, when the 
news of this disaster reached England, our friends there, 
whom we had taken care to furnish with all the Assem- 
bly's answers to the governor's messages, rais'd a clamor 
against the proprietaries for their meanness and injustice 
in giving their governor such instructions ; some going so 
far as to say that, by obstructing the defense of their prov- 
ince, they forfeited their right to it. They were intimi- 
dated by this, and sent orders to their receiver-general to 
add five thousand pounds of their money to whatever sum 
might be given by the Assembly for such purpose. 

This, being notified to the House, was accepted in lieu 
of their share of a general tax, and a new bill was form'd 
with an exempting clause, which passed accordingly. By 
this act I was appointed one of the commissioners for dis- 
posing of the money, sixty thousand poundc. I had been 
active in modelling the bill and procuring its passage, 
and had, at the same time, drawn a bill for establishing 
and disciplining a voluntary militia, which I carried thro' 
the House without much difficulty, as care was taken in 
it to leave the Quakers at their liberty. To promote the 
association necessary to form the militia, I wrote a dia- 
logue, stating and answering all the objections I could 
think of to such a militia, which was printed, and had, as 
I thought, great effect. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



157 



While the several companies in the city and country- 
were forming, and learning their exercise, the governor 
prevail'd with me to take charge of our North-western 
frontier, which was infested by the enemy, and provide 
for the defense of the inhabitants by raising troops and 
building a line of forts. I undertook this military busi- 
ness, tho' I did not conceive myself well qualified for it. 
He gave me a commission with full powers, and a parcel 
of blank commissions for officers, to be given to whom I 
thought fit. I had but little difficulty in raising men, 
having soon five hundred and sixty under my command. 
My son, who had in the preceding war been an officer in 
the army rais'd against Canada, was my aid-de-camp, and 
of great use to me. The Indians had burned Gnadenhut, 
a village settled by the Moravians, and massacred the in- 
habitants ; but the place was thought a good situation 
for one of the forts. 

In order to march thither, I assembled the companies 
at Bethlehem, the chief establishment of those people. I 
was surprised to find it in so good a posture of defense ; 
the destruction of Gnadenhut had made them apprehend 
danger. The principal buildings were defended by a 
stockade ; they had purchased a quantity of arms and 
ammunition from New York, and had even plac'd quan- 
tities of small paving stones between the windows of their 
high stone houses, for their women to throw down upon 
the heads of any Indians that should attempt to force into 
them. The armed brethren, too, kept watch, and reliev'd 
as methodically as in any garrison town. In conversation 
with the bishop, Spangenberg, I mention'd this my sur- 
prise ; for, knowing they had obtained an act of Parlia- 
ment exempting them from military duties in the colonies, 
I had suppos'd they were conscientiously scrupulous of 
bearing arms. He answer'd me that it was not one of their 
established principles, but that, at the time of their obtain, 
ing that act, it was thought to be a principle with many 
of their people. On this occasion, however, they, to their 



158 



FRANKLIN 



surprise, found it adopted by but a few. It seems they 
were either deceiv'd in themselves, or deceiv'd the Parlia- 
ment ; but common sense, aided by present danger, will 
sometimes be too strong for whimsical opinions. 

It was the beginning of January when we set out upon 
this business of building forts. I sent one detachment 
toward the Minisink, with instructions to erect one for 
the security of that upper part of the country, and an- 
other to the lower part, with similar instructions ; and I 
concluded to go myself with the rest of my force to 
Gnadenhut, where a fort was tho't more immediately 
necessary. The Moravians procur'd me five waggons for 
our tools, stores, baggage, etc. 

Just before we left Bethlehem, eleven farmers, who 
had been driven from their plantations by the Indians, 
came to me requesting a supply of firearms, that the}' 
might go back and fetch off their cattle. I gave them 
each a gun with suitable ammunition. We had not 
march'd many miles before it began to rain, and con- 
tinued raining all day ; there were no habitations on the 
road to shelter us, till we arriv'd near night at the house 
of a German, where, and in his barn, we were all hud- 
dled together, as wet as water could make us. It was well 
we were not attack'd in our march, for our arms were of 
the most ordinary sort, and our men could not keep their 
gun locks dry. The Indians are dextrous in contrivances 
for that purpose, which we had not. They met that day 
the eleven poor farmers above mentioned, and killed ten 
of them. The one who escap'd inform'd that his and his 
companions' guns would not go off, the priming being wet 
with the rain. 

The next day being fair, we continu'd our march, and 
arriv'd at the desolated Gnadenhut. There was a saw- 
mill near, round which were left several piles of boards, 
with which we soon hutted ourselves; an operation the 
more necessary at that inclement season, as we had no 
tents. Our first work was to bury more effectually the 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



159 



dead we found there, who had been half interr'd by the 
country people. 

The next morning our fort was plann'd and mark'd 
out, the circumference measuring four hundred and fifty- 
five feet, which would require as many palisades to be 
made of trees, one with another, of a foot diameter each. 
Our axes, of which we had seventy, were immediately set 
to work to cut down trees, and, our men being dextrous 
in the use of them, great despatch was made. Seeing the 
trees fall so fast, I had the curiosity to look at my watch 
when two men began to cut at a pine ; in six minutes they 
had it upon the ground, and I found it of fourteen inches 
diameter. Each pine made three palisades of eighteen 
feet long, pointed at one end. While these were prepar- 
ing, our other men dug a trench all round, of three feet 
deep, in which the palisades were to be planted ; and, our 
waggons, the bodys being taken off, and the fore and 
hind wheels separated by taking out the pin which united 
the two parts of the perch, we had ten carriages, with two 
horses each, to bring the palisades from the woods to the 
spot. When they were set up, our carpenters built a 
stage of boards all round within, about six feet high, for 
the men to stand on when to fire thro' the loopholes. 
We had one swivel gun, which we mounted on one of the 
angles, and fir'd it as soon as fix'd, to let the Indians know, 
if any were within hearing, that we had such pieces; 
and thus our fort, if such a magnificent name may be 
given to so miserable a stockade, was finish'd in a week, 
though it rain'd so hard every other day that the men 
could not work. 

This gave me occasion to observe, that, when men are 
employ'd, they are best content'd ; for on the days they 
worked they were good-natur'd and cheerful, and, with 
the consciousness of having done a good day's work, 
they spent the evening jollily ; but on our idle days they 
were mutinous and quarrelsome, finding fault with their 
pork, the bread, etc., and in continual ill-humor, which put 



l6o FRANKLIN 

mc in mind of a sea-captain, whose rule it was to keep his 
men constantly at work; and, when his mate once told 
him that they had done every thing, and there was noth- 
ing further to employ them about, " Oh,'' says he, " viake 
them scour the anchor." 

This kind of fort, however contemptible, is a sufficient 
defense against Indians, who have no cannon. Finding 
ourselves now posted securely, and having a place to re- 
treat to on occasion, we ventur'd out in parties to scour 
the adjacent country. We met with no Indians, but we 
found the places on the neighboring hills where they had 
lain to watch our proceedings. There was an art in their 
contrivance of those places that seems worth mention. It 
being winter, a fire was necessary for them ; but a com- 
mon fire on the surface of the ground would by its light 
have discover'd their position at a distance. They had 
therefore dug holes in the ground about three feet diame- 
ter, and somewhat deeper ; we saw where they had with 
their hatchets cut ofl the charcoal from the sides of burnt 
logs lying in the woods. With these coals they had made 
small fires in the bottom of the holes, and we observ'd 
among the weeds and grass the prints of their bodies, 
made by their laying all round, with their legs hanging 
down in the holes to keep their feet warm, which, with 
them, is an essential point. This kind of fire, so manag'd, 
could not discover them, either by its light, flame, sparks, 
or even smoke : it appear'd that their number was not 
great, and it seems they saw we were too many to be 
attacked by them with prospect of advantage. 

We had for our chaplain a zealous Presbyterian minis- 
ter, Mr. Beatty, who complained to me that the men did 
not generally attend his prayers and exhortations. When 
they enlisted, they were promised, besides pay and pro- 
visions, a gill of rum a day, which was punctually serv'd 
out to them, half in the morning, and the other half in the 
evening ; and I observ'd they were as punctual in attend- 
ing to receive it ; upon which I said to Mr. Beatty, " It is, 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY l6l 

perhaps, below the dignity of your profession to act as 
steward of the rum, but if you were to deal it out and 
only just after prayers, you would have them all about 
you." He liked the tho't, undertook the office, and, with 
the help of a few hands to measure out the liquor, executed 
it to satisfaction, and never were prayers more generally 
and more punctually attended ; so that I thought this 
method preferable to the punishment inflicted by some 
military laws for non-attendance on divine service. 

I had hardly finish'd this business, and got my fort 
well stor'd with provisions, when I receiv'd a letter from 
the governor, acquainting me that he had call'd the As- 
sembly, and wished my attendance there, if the posture of 
affairs on the frontiers was such that my remaining there 
was no longer necessary. My friends, too, of the As- 
sembly, pressing me by their letters to be, if possible, at 
the meeting, and my three intended forts being now 
compleated, and the inhabitants contented to remain on 
their farms under that protection, 1 resolved to return ; 
the more willingly, as a New England officer. Colonel 
Clapham, experienced in Indian war, being on a visit to 
our establishment, consented to accept the command. I 
gave him a commission, and, parading the garrison, had 
it read before them, and introduc'd him to them as an 
officer who, from his skill in military affairs, was much 
more fit to command them than myself; and, giving them 
a little exhortation, took my leave. I was escorted as far 
as Bethlehem, where I rested a few days to recover from 
the fatigue I had undergone. The first night, being in 
a good bed, I could hardly sleep, it was so different from 
my hard lodging on the floor of our hut at Gnaden wrapt 
only in a blanket or two. 

While at Bethlehem, I inquir'd a little into the practice 
of the Moravians : some of them had accompanied me, 
and all were very kind to me. I found they work'd for 
a common stock, eat at common tables, and slept in com- 
mon dormitories, great numbers together. In the dormi- 



l62 FRANKLIN 

tories I observed loopholes, at certain distances all along 
just under the ceiling, which I thought judiciously placed 
for change of air. I was at their church, where I was en- 
tertain'd with good musick, the organ being accompanied 
with violins, hautboys, flutes, clarinets, etc. I understood 
that their sermons were not usually preached to mixed 
congregations of men, women, and children, as is our 
common practice, but that they assembled sometimes the 
married men, at other times their wives, then the young 
men, the young women, and the little children, each divi- 
sion by itself. The sermon I heard was to the latter, who 
came in and were plac'd in rows on benches ; the boys 
under the conduct of a young man, their tutor, and the 
girls conducted by a young woman. The discourse 
seem'd well adapted to their capacities, and was delivered 
in a pleasing, familiar manner, coaxing them, as it were, 
to be good. They behav'd very orderly, but looked pale 
and unhealthy, which made me suspect they were kept 
too much within doors, or not allow'd sufficient exercise. 

I inquir'd concerning the Moravian marriages, whether 
the report was true that they were by lot. I was told 
that lots were us'd only in particular cases ; that gener- 
ally, when a young man found himself dispos'd to marry, 
he inform'd the elders of his class, who consulted the elder 
ladies that govern'd the young women. As these elders 
of the different sexes were well acquainted with the tem- 
pers and dispositions of their respective pupils, they could 
best judge what matches were suitable, and their judg- 
ments were generally acquicsc'd in ; but if, for example, 
it should happen that two or three young women were 
found to be equally proper for the young man, the lot 
was then recurred to. I objected, if the matches are not 
made by the mutual choice of the parties, some of them 
may chance to be very unhappy. " And so they may," 
answer'd my informer, " if you let the parties chuse for 
themselves ; " which, indeed, I could not deny. 

Being returned to Philadelphia, I found the associa- 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



163 



tion went on swimmingly, the inhabitants that were not 
Quakers having pretty generally come into it, formed 
themselves into companies, and chose their captains, lieu- 
tenants, and ensigns, according to the new law. Dr. B. 
visited me, and gave me an account of the pains he had 
taken to spread a general good liking to the law, and as- 
cribed much to those endeavors. I had had the vanity 
to ascribe all to my Dialogue ; however, not knowing but 
that he might be in the right, I let him enjoy his opinion, 
which I take to be generally the best way in such cases. 
The officers, meeting, chose me to be colonel of the regi- 
ment, which I this time accepted. I forget how many 
companies we had, but we paraded about twelve hundred 
well-looking men, with a company of artillery, who had 
been furnished with six brass field-pieces, which they had 
become so expert in the use of as to fire twelve times in a 
minute. The first time I reviewed my regiment they ac- 
companied me to my house, and would salute me with 
some rounds fired before my door, which shook down and 
broke several glasses of my electrical apparatus. And 
my new honour proved not much less brittle; for all our 
commissions were soon after broken by a repeal of the 
law in England. 

During this short time of my colonelship, being about 
to set out on a journey to Virginia, the officers of my 
regiment took it into their heads that it would be proper 
for them to escort me out of town, as far as the Lower 
Ferry. Just as I was getting on horseback they came to 
my door, between thirty and forty, mounted, and all in 
their uniforms. I had not been previously acquainted 
with the project, or I should have prevented it, being 
naturally averse to the assuming of state on any occasion ; 
and I was a good deal chagrin'd at their appearance, as I 
could not avoid their accompanying me. What made it 
worse was, that, as soon as we began to move, they drew 
their swords and rode with them naked all the way. 
Somebody wrote an account of this to the proprietor, and 



164 



FRANKLIN 



it g-ave him great offense. No such honor had been paid 
him when in the province, nor to any of his governors ; 
and he said it was only proper to princes of the blood 
royal, which may be true for aught I know, who was, and 
still am, ignorant of the etiquette in such cases. 

This silly affair, however, greatly increased his ran- 
cour against me, which was before not a little, on account 
of my conduct in the Assembly respecting the exemption 
of his estate from taxation, which I had always oppos'd 
very warmly, and not without severe reflections on his 
meanness and injustice of contending for it. He accused 
me to the ministry as being the great obstacle to the 
king's service, preventing, by my infiuence in the House, 
the proper form of the bills for raising money, and he in- 
stanced this parade with my officers as a proof of my 
having an intention to take the government of the prov- 
ince out of his hands by force. He also applied to Sir 
Everard Fawkener, the postmaster-general, to deprive 
me of my office ; but it had no other effect than to pro- 
cure from Sir Everard a gentle admonition. 

Notwithstanding the continual wrangle between the 
governor and the House, in which I, as a member, had so 
large a share, there still subsisted a civil intercourse be- 
tween that gentleman and myself, and we never had any 
personal difference. I have sometimes since thought that 
his little or no resentment against me, for the answers it 
was known I drew up to his messages, might be the 
effect of professional habit, and that, being bred a lawyer, 
he might consider us both as merely advocates for con- 
tending clients in a suit, he for the proprietaries and I for 
the Assembly. He would, therefore, sometimes call in a 
friendly way to advise with me on difficult points, and 
sometimes, tho' not often, take my advice. 

We acted in concert to supply Braddock's army with 
provisions ; and, when the shocking news arrived of his 
defeat, the governor sent in haste for me, to consult with 
him on measures for preventing the desertion of the back 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 165 

counties. I forget now the advice I gave ; but I think it 
was, that Dunbar should be written to, and prevail'd with, 
if possible, to post his troops on the frontiers for their pro- 
tection, till, by re-enforcements from the colonies, he 
might be able to proceed on the expedition. And, after 
my return from the frontier, he would have had me 
undertake the conduct of such an expedition with pro- 
vincial troops, for the reduction of Fort Duquesne, Dun- 
bar and his men being otherwise employed ; and he pro- 
posed to commission me as general. I had not so good 
an opinion of my military abilities as he profess'd to have, 
and I believe his professions must have exceeded his real 
sentiments ; but probably he might think that my popu- 
larity would facilitate the raising of the men, and my in- 
fluence in Assembly, the grant of money to pay them, 
and that, perhaps, without taxing the proprietary estate. 
Finding me not so forward to engage as he expected, the 
project was dropt, and he soon after left the government, 
being superseded by Captain Denny. 

Before I proceed in relating the part I had in public 
affairs under this new governor's administration, it may 
not be amiss here to give some account of the rise and 
progress of my philosophical reputation. v 

In 1746, being at Boston, I met there with a Dr. 
Spence, who was lately arrived from Scotland, and shovv'd 
me some electric experiments. They were imperfectly 
perform'd, as he was not very expert; but, being on a 
subject quite new to me, they equally surpris'd and 
pleased me. Soon after my return to Philadelphia, our 
library company receiv'd from Mr. P. Collinson, Fellow 
of the Royal Society of London, a present of a glass tube, 
with some account of the use of it in making such experi- 
ments. I eagerly seized the opportunity of repeating 
what I had seen at Boston ; and, by much practice, ac- 
quir'd great readiness in performing those, also, which 
we had an account of from England, adding a number of 
new ones. I say much practice, for my house was con- 



l66 FRANKLIN 

tinually full, for some time, with people who came to see 
these new wonders. 

To divide a little this incumbrance among my friends, 
I caused a number of similar tubes to be blown at our 
glass-house, with which they furnished themselves, so 
that we had at length several performers. Among these, 
the principal was Mr. Kinnersley, an ingenious neighbor, 
who, being out of business, I encouraged to undertake 
showing the experiments for money, and drew up for 
him two lectures, in which the experiments were rang'd 
in such order, and accompanied with such explanations 
in such method, as that the foregoing should assist in 
comprehending the following. He procur'd an elegant 
apparatus for the purpose, in which all the little machines 
that I had roughly made for myself were nicely form'd 
by instrument-makers. His lectures were well attended, 
and gave great satisfaction ; and after some time he went 
thro' the colonies, exhibiting them in every capital town, 
and pick'd up some money. In the West India islands, 
indeed, it was with difficulty the experiments could be 
made, from the general moisture of the air. 

Oblig'd as we were to Mr. Collinson for his present of 
the tube, etc., I thought it right he should be inform'd of 
our success in using it, and wrote him several letters con- 
taining accounts of our experiments. He got them read 
in the Roval Society, where they were not at first thought 
worth so much notice as to be printed in their Transac- 
tions. One paper, which I wrote for Mr. Kinnersley, on 
the sameness of lightning with electricity, I sent to Dr. 
Mitchel, an acquaintance of mine, and one of the members 
also of that society, who wrote me word that it had been 
read, but was laughed at by the connoisseurs. The papers, 
however, being shown to Dr. Fothergill, he thought them 
of too much value to be stifled, and advis'd the printing 
of them. Mr. Collinson then gave them to Cmr for publi- 
cation in his Gentleman's Magazine; but he chose to print 
them separately in a pamphlet, and Dr. Fothergill wrote 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 167 

the preface. Cave, it seems, judged rightly for his profit, 
for by the additions that arrived afterward, they swell'd 
to a quarto volume, which has had five editions, and cost 
him nothing for copy-money. 

It was, however, some time before those papers were 
much taken notice of in England. A copy of them hap- 
pening to fall into the hands of the Count de Buffon, a 
philosopher deservedly of great reputation in France, and, 
indeed, all over Europe, he prevailed with M. Dalibard to 
translate them into French, and they were printed at 
Paris. The publication offended the Abb6 NoUet, pre- 
ceptor in Natural Philosophy to the royal family, and an 
able experimenter, who had form'd and publish'd a theory 
of electricity, which then had the general vogue. He 
could not at first believe that such a work came from 
America, and said it must have been fabricated by his 
enemies at Paris, to decry his system. Afterwards, hav- 
ing been assur'd that there really existed such a person 
as Franklin at Philadelphia, which he had doubted, he 
wrote and published a volume of Letters, chiefly address'd 
to me, defending his theory, and denying the verity of 
my experiments, and of the positions deduc'd from them. 

I once purpos'd answering the abb^, and actually 
began the answer ; but, on consideration that my writings 
contain'd a description of experiments which any one 
might repeat and verify, and if not to be verifi'd, could 
not be defended ; or of observations offer'd as conjectures, 
and not delivered dogmatically, therefore not laying me 
under any obligation to defend them ; and reflecting that 
a dispute between two persons, writing in different lan- 
guages, might be lengthened greatly by mistranslations, 
and thence misconceptions of one another's meaning, much 
of one of the abbe's letters being founded on an error in 
the translation, I concluded to let my papers shift for 
themselves, believing it was better to spend what time I 
could spare from public business in making new experi- 
ments, than in disputing about those already made. 1 



l68 FRANKLIN 

therefore never answered M. Nollet, and the event gave 
me no cause to repent my silence ; for my friend M. le 
Roy, of the Royal Academy of Sciences, took up my 
cause and refuted him ; my book was translated into the 
Italian, German, and Latin languages ; and the doctrine 
it contain'd was by degrees universally adopted by the 
philosophers of Europe, in preference to that of the abbe ; 
so that he lived to see himself the last of his sect, except 
Monsieur B , of Paris, his //i^t'^and immediate disciple. 

What gave my book the more sudden and general 
celebrity, was the success of one of its proposed experi- 
ments, made by Messrs. Dalibard and De Lor at Marly, 
for drawing lightning from the clouds. This engag'd 
the public attention every where. M. de Lor, who had 
an apparatus for experimental philosophy, and lectur'd 
in that branch of science, undertook to repeat what he 
called the Philadelphia Experiments ; and, after they were 
performed before the king and court, all the curious of 
Paris flocked to see them. I will not swell this narrative 
with an account of that capital experiment, nor of the 
infinite pleasure I receiv'd in the success of a similar one 
I made soon after with a kite at Philadelphia, as both are 
to be found in the histories of electricity. 

Dr. Wright, an English phj'sician, when at Paris, 
wrote to a friend, who was of the Royal Society, an ac- 
count of the high esteem my experiments were in among 
the learned abroad, and of their wonder that my writings 
had been so little noticed in England. The society, on 
this, resum'd the consideration of the letters that had 
been read to them ; and the celebrated Dr. Watson drew 
up a summary account of them, and of all I had afterwards 
sent to England on the subject, which he accompanied 
with some praise of the writer. This summary was then 
printed in their Transactions; and some members of the 
society in London, particularly the very ingenious Mr. 
Canton, having verified the experiment of procuring 
lightning from the clouds by a pointed rod, and acquaint- 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



169 



ing them with the success, they soon made me more than 
amends for the slight with which they had before treated 
me. Without my having made any application for that 
honor, they chose me a member, and voted that I should 
be excus'd the customary payments, which would have 
amounted to twenty-five guineas; and ever since have 
given me their Transactions gratis. They also presented 
me with the gold medal of Sir Godfrey Copley for the 
year 1753, the delivery of which was accompanied by a 
very handsome speech of the president. Lord Macclesfield, 
wherein I was highly honoured. 

Our new governor, Captain Denny, brought over for 
me the before-mentioned medal from the Royal Society, 
which he presented to me at an entertainment given him 
by the city. He accompanied it with very polite expres- 
sions of his esteem for me, having, as he said, been long 
acquainted with my character. After dinner, when the 
company, as was customary at that time, were engag'd in 
drinking, he took me aside into another room, and ac- 
quainted me that he had been advis'd by his friends in Eng- 
land to cultivate a friendship with me, as one who was 
capable of giving him the best advice, and of contributing 
most effectually to the making his administration easy ; 
that he therefore desired of all things to have a good un- 
derstanding with me, and he begg'd me to be assur'd of 
his readiness on all occasions to render me every service 
that might be in his power. He said much to me, also, 
of the proprietor's good disposition towards the province, 
and of the advantage it might be to us all, and to me in 
particular, if the opposition that had been so long con- 
tinu'd to his measures was dropt, and harmony restor'd 
between him and the people ; in effecting which, it was 
thought no one could be more serviceable than myself ; 
and I might depend on adequate acknowledgments and 
recompenses, etc., etc. The drinkers, finding we did not 
return immediately to the table, sent us a decanter of Ma- 
deira, which the governor made liberal use of, and in 



i;o FRANKLIN 

proportion became more profuse of his solicitations and 
promises. 

Mv answers were to this purpose: that my circum- 
stances, thanks to God, were such as to make proprietary 
favours unnecessary to me ; and that, being a member of 
the Assembly, I could not possibly accept of any ; that, 
however, I had no personal enmity to the proprietary, 
and that, whenever the public measures he propos'd 
should appear to be for the good of the people, no one 
should espouse and forward them more zealously than 
myself ; my past opposition having been founded on this, 
that the measures which have been urged were evidently 
intended to serve the proprietary interest, with great 
prejudice to that of the people ; that I was much obliged 
to him (the governor) for his professions of regard to me, 
and that he might rely on every thing in my power to 
make his administration as easy as possible, hoping at the 
same time that he had not brought with him the same 
unfortunate instruction his predecessor had been ham- 
pcr'd with. 

On this he did not then explain himself ; but when he 
afterwards came to do business with the Assembly, they 
appear'd again, the disputes were renewed, and I was as 
active as ever in the opposition, being the penman, first, 
of the request to have a communication of the instruc- 
tions, and then of the remarks upon them, which may be 
found in the votes of the time, and in the Historical Re- 
view I afterward publish'd. But between us personally 
no enmity arose ; we were often together ; he was a man 
of letters, had seen much of the world, and was very en- 
tertaining and pleasing in conversation. He gave me the 
first information that my old friend Jas. Ralph was still 
alive ; that he was esteem'd one of the best political 
writers in England ; had been employ 'd in the dispute 
between Prince Frederic and the king, and had obtain'd 
a pension of three hundred a year ; that his reputation 
was indeed small as a poet. Pope having damned his 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 171 

poetry in the Dunciad ; but his prose was thought as 
good as any man's. 

The Assembly finally finding the proprietary obsti- 
nately persisted in manacling their deputies with instruc- 
tions inconsistent not only with the privileges of the peo- 
ple, but with the service of the crown, resolv'd to petition 
the king against them, and appointed me their agent to 
go over to England, to present and support the petition. 
The House had sent up a bill to the governor, granting a 
sum of sixty thousand pounds for the king's use (ten thou- 
sand pounds of which was subjected to the orders of the 
then general, Lord Loudoun), which the governor abso- 
lutely refus'd to pass, in compliance with his instructions. 

I had agreed with Captain Morris, of the paquet at 
New York, for my passage, and my stores were put on 
board, when Lord Loudoun arriv'd at Philadelphia, ex- 
pressly, as he told me, to endeavor an accommodation 
between the governor and Assembly, that his majesty's 
service might not be obstructed by their dissensions. 
Accordingly, he desir'd the governor and myself to meet 
him, that he might hear what was to be said on both 
sides. We met and discuss'd the business. In behalf of 
the Assembly, I urg'd all the various arguments that 
may be found in the public papers of that time, which 
were of my writing, and are printed with the minutes of 
the Assembly ; and the governor pleaded his instructions ; 
the bond he had given to observe them, and his ruin if he 
disobey 'd, yet seemed not unwilling to hazard himself if 
Lord Loudoun would advise it. This his lordship did 
not chuse to do, though I once thought I had nearly pre- 
vail'd with him to do it ; but finally he rather chose to 
urge the compliance of the Assembly ; and he entreated 
me to use my endeavours with them for that purpose, de- 
claring that he would spare none of the king's troops for 
the defense of our frontiers, and that, if we did not con- 
tinue to provide for that defense ourselves, they must re- 
main expos'd to the enemy. 



172 FRANKLIN 

I acquainted the House with what had pass'd, and, pre- 
senting them with a set of resolutions I had drawn up, de- 
claring- our rights, and that we did not relinquish our 
claim to those rights, but only suspended the exercise of 
them on this occasion thro' /c?rr^, against which we pro- 
tested, they at length agreed to drop that bill, and frame 
another conformable to the proprietary instructions. This 
of course the governor pass'd, and I was then at libert}' to 
proceed on my voyage. But, in the mean time, the paquet 
had sailed with my sea-stores, which was some loss to me, 
and my only recompense was his lordship's thanks for my 
service, all the credit of obtaining the accommodation fall- 
ing to his share. 

He set out for New York before me ; and, as the time 
for dispatching the paquet-boats was at his disposition, and 
there were two then remaining there, one of which, he 
said, was to sail very soon, I requested to know the pre- 
cise time, that I might not miss her by any delay of mine. 
His answer was, " I have given out that she is to sail on 
Saturday next ; but I may let you know, entre nous, that if 
)^ou are there by Monday morning, you will be in time, 
but do not delay longer." By some accidental hinderance 
at a ferry, it was Monday noon before I arrived, and 1 was 
much afraid she might have sailed, as the wind was fair; 
but I was soon made easy bv the information that she was 
still in the harbor, and would not move till the next day. 
One would imagine that I was now on the very point of 
departing for Europe. I thought so ; but I was not then 
so well acquainted with his lordship's character, of which 
indecision was one of the strongest features. I shall give 
some instances. It was about the beginning of April that 
I came to New York, and I think it was near the end of 
June before we sail'd. There were then two of the paquet- 
boats, which had been long in port, but were detained for 
the general's letters, which were always to be ready to- 
morrow. Another paquet arrived ; she too was detain'd ; 
and, before we sail'd, a fourth was expected. Ours was 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



173 



the first to be dispatch'd, as having been there longest. 
Passengers were engag'd in all, and some extremely impa- 
tient to be gone, and the merchants uneasy about their let- 
ters, and the orders they had given for insurance (it being 
war time) for fall goods ; but their anxiety avail'd noth- 
ing ; his lordship's letters were not ready ; and yet who- 
ever waited on him found him always at his desk, pen in 
hand, and concluded he must needs write abundantly. 

Going myself one morning to pay my respects, I found 
in his antechamber one Innis, a messenger of Philadelphia, 
who had come from thence express with a paquet from 
Governor Denny for the General. He delivered to me 
some letters from my friends there, which occasion'd my 
inquiring when he was to return, and where he lodg'd, 
that I might send some letters by him. He told me he 
was order'd to call to-morrow at nine for the general's an- 
swer to the governor, and should set off immediately. I 
put my letters into his hands the same day. A fortnight 
after I met him again in the same place. " So, you are 
soon return'd, Innis?" '' Return d! no, I am v\(jX. gone 
yet." " How so ? " "I have called here by order every 
morning these two weeks past for his lordship's letter, and 
it is not yet ready." " Is it possible, when he is so great 
a writer ? for I see him constantly at his escritoire." 
" Yes," says Innis, " but he is like St. George on the signs, 
always on horseback, and never rides on." This observation 
of the messenger was, it seems, well founded ; for, when 
in England, I understood that Mr. Pitt gave it as one rea- 
son for removing this general, and sending Generals Am- 
herst and Wolfe, that the minister never heard from him, 
and could not know what he was doing. 

This daily expectation of sailing, and all the three 
paquets going down to Sandy Hook, to join the fleet there, 
the passengers thought it best to be on board, lest by a 
sudden order the ships should sail, and they be left be- 
hind. There, if I remember right, we were about six 
weeks, consuming our sea-stores, and oblig'd to procure 



174 



FRANKLIN 



more. At length the fleet sail'd, the General and all his 
army on board, bound to Louisburg, with intent to be- 
siege and take that fortress ; all the paquet-boats in com- 
pany ordered to attend the General's ship, ready to re- 
ceive his dispatches when they should be ready. We 
were out five days before we got a letter with leave to 
part, and then our ship quitted the fleet and steered for 
England. The other two paquets he still detained, car- 
ried them with him to Halifax, where he stayed some time 
to exercise the men in sham attacks upon sham forts, then 
alter'd his mind as to besieging Louisburg, and return'd 
to New York, with all his troops, together with the two 
paquets above mentioned, and all their passengers ! Dur- 
ing his absence the French and savages had taken Fort 
George, on the frontier of that province, and the savages 
had massacred many of the garrison after capitulation. 

I saw afterwards in London Captain Bonnell, who 
commanded one of those paquets. He told me that, when 
he had been detain'd a month, he acquainted his lordship 
that his ship was grown foul, to a degree that must neces- 
sarily hinder her fast sailing, a point of consequence for a 
paquet-boat, and requested an allowance of time to heave 
her down and clean her bottom. He was asked how long 
time that would require. He answer'd, three days. The 
general replied, " If you can do it in one day, I give 
leave ; otherwise not ; for you must certainly sail the day 
after to-morrow." So he never obtain'd leave, though 
detained afterwards from day to day during full three 
months. 

I saw also in London one of Bonnell's passengers, who 
was so enrag'd against his lordship for deceiving and de- 
taining him so long at New York, and then carrying him 
to Halifax and back again, that he swore he would sue 
him for damages. Whether he did or not, I never 
heard ; but, as he represented the injury to his affairs, it 
was very considerable. 

On the whole, I wonder'd much how such a man came 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 175 

to be intrusted with so important a business as the con- 
duct of a great army ; but, having since seen more of the 
great world, and the means of obtaining, and motives for 
giving places, my wonder is diminished. General Shir- 
ley, on whom the command of the army devolved upon 
the death of Braddock, would, in my opinion, if continued 
in place, have made a much better campaign than that of 
Loudoun in 1757, which was frivolous, expensive, and 
disgraceful to our nation beyond conception ; for, tho' 
Shirley was not a bred soldier, he was sensible and saga- 
cious in himself, and attentive to good advice from others, 
capable of forming judicious plans, and quick and active 
in carrying them into execution. Loudoun, instead of 
defending the colonies with his great army, left them 
totally expos'd, while he paraded idly at Halifax, by which 
means Fort George was lost, besides, he derang'd all our 
mercantile operations, and distress'd our trade, by a long 
embargo on the exportation of provisions, on pretence of 
keeping supplies from being obtain'd by the enemy, but 
in reality for beating down their price in favor of the 
contractors, in whose profits, it was said, perhaps from 
suspicion only, he had a share. And, when at length the 
embargo was taken off, by neglecting to send notice of it 
to Charlestown, the Carolina fleet was detain'd near three 
months longer, whereby their bottoms were so much 
damaged by the worm that a great part of them foun- 
dered in their passage home. 

Shirley was, I believe, sincerely glad of being relieved 
from so burdensome a charge as the conduct of an army 
must be to a man unacquainted with military business. I 
was at the entertainment given by the city of New York 
to Lord Loudoun, on his taking upon him the command. 
Shirley, tho* thereby superseded, was present also. 
There was a great company of officers, citizens, and 
strangers, and, some chairs having been borrowed in the 
neighborhood, there was one among them very low, 
which fell to the lot of Mr. Shirley. Perceiving it as I 



lye FRANKLIN 

sat by him, I said, " They have given you, sir, too low a 
seat." " No matter," says he, " Mr. Franklin, I find a low 
scat the easiest." 

While I was, as afore mention'd, detain'd at New York, 
I receiv'd all the accounts of the provisions, etc., that 
I had furnish'd to Braddock, some of which accounts 
could not sooner be obtain'd from the different persons I 
had employ'd to assist in the business. I presented them 
to Lord Loudoun, desiring to be paid the ballance. He 
caus'd them to be regularly examined by the proper offi- 
cer, who, after comparing every article with its voucher, 
certified them to be right; and the balance due for which 
his lordship promis'd to give me an order on the paymas- 
ter. This was, however, put off from time to time ; and, 
tho' I call'd often for it by appointment, I did not get it. 
At length, just before my departure, he told me he had, 
on better consideration, concluded not to mix his accounts 
with those of his predecessors. " And you," says he, 
" when in England, have only to exhibit your accounts at 
the treasury, and you will be paid immediately." 

I mention'd, but without effect, the great and unex- 
pected expense I had been put to by being detain'd so 
long at New York, as a reason for my desiring to be 
presently paid ; and on my observing that it was not right 
I should be put to any further trouble or delay in obtain- 
ing the money I had advanced, as I charged no commis- 
sion for my service, " O, sir," says he, " you must not 
think of persuading us that you are no gainer ; we under- 
stand better those affairs, and know that every one con- 
cerned in supplying the army finds means, in the doing it, 
to fill his own pockets." I assur'd him that was not my 
case, and that I had not pocketed a farthing ; but he ap- 
pear'd not to believe me ; and, indeed, I have since learnt 
that immense fortunes are often made in such employ- 
ments. As to my ballance, 1 am not paid it to this day, 
of which more hereafter. 

Our captain of the paquet had boasted much, before 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



177 



we sailed, of the swiftness of his ship ; unfortunately, 
when we came to sea, she proved the dullest of ninety-six 
sail, to his no small mortification. After many conjec- 
tures respecting the cause, when we were near another 
ship almost as dull as ours, which, however, gain'd upon 
us, the captain ordered all hands to come aft, and stand as 
near the ensign staff as possible. We were, passengers 
included, about forty persons. While we stood there the 
ship mended her pace, and soon left her neighbour far 
behind, which prov'd clearly what our captain suspected, 
that she was loaded too much by the head. The casks of 
water, it seems, had been all plac'd forward ; these he 
therefore order'd to be mov'd further aft, on which the 
ship recovered her character, and proved the best sailer 
in the fieet. 

The captain said she had once gone at the rate of 
thirteen knots, which is accounted thirteen miles per hour. 
We had on board, as a passenger. Captain Kennedy, of 
the Navy, who contended that it was impossible, and that 
no ship ever sailed so fast, and that there must have been 
some error in the division of the log-line, or some mistake 
in heaving the log. A wager ensu'd between the two 
captains, to be decided when there should be sufficient 
wind. Kennedy thereupon examin'd rigorously the log- 
line, and, being satisfi'd with that, he determin'd to throw 
the log himself. Accordingly some days after, when the 
wind blew very fair and fresh, and the captain of the 
paquet, Lutwidge, said he believ'd she then went at the 
rate of thirteen knots, Kennedy made the experiment, and 
own'd his wager lost. 

The above fact I give for the sake of the following 
observation. It has been remark'd as an imperfection in 
the art of ship-building, that it can never be known, till 
she is tried, whether a new ship will or will not be a good 
sailer ; for that the model of a good-sailing ship has been 
exactly follow'd in a new one, which has prov'd, on the 
contrary, remarkably dull. I apprehend that this may 



178 



FRANKLIN 



partly be occasion'd by the different opinions of seamen 
respecting' the modes of lading, rigging, and sailing of a 
ship ; each has his system ; and the same vessel, laden by 
the judgment and orders of one captain, shall sail better 
or worse than when by the orders of another. Besides, it 
scarce ever happens that a ship is form'd, fitted for the 
sea, and sail'd by the same person. One man builds the 
hull, another rigs her, a third lades and sails her. No one 
of these has the advantage of knowing all the ideas and 
experience of the others, and, therefore, can not draw just 
conclusions from a combination of the whole. 

Even in the simple operation of sailing when at sea, 1 
have often observ'd different judgments in the officers who 
commanded the successive watches, the wind being the 
same. One would have the sails trimm'd sharper or flatter 
than another, so that they seem'd to have no certain rule 
to govern by. Yet I think a set of expieriments might be 
instituted, first, to determine the most proper form of the 
hull for swift sailing ; next, the best dimensions and prop- 
erest place for the masts ; then the form and quantity of 
sails, and their position, as the wind may be ; and, lastly, 
the disposition of the lading. This is an age of experi- 
ments, and I think a set accurately made and combin'd 
would be of great use. I am persuaded, therefore, that 
ere long some ingenious philosopher will undertake it, 
to whom I wish success. 

We were several times chas'd in our passage, but out- 
sail'd every thing, and in thirty days had soundings. We 
had a good observation, and the captain judg'd himself so 
near our port, Falmouth, that, if we made a good run in 
the night, we might be off the mouth of that harbor in the 
morning, and by running in the night might escape the 
notice of the enemy's privateers, who often cruis'd near 
the entrance of the channel. Accordingly, all the sail was 
set that we could possibly make, and the wind being very 
fresh and fair, we went right before it, and made great 
way. The captain, after his observation, shap'd his course, 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 79 

as he thought, so as to pass wide of the Scilly Isles ; but 
it seems there is sometimes a strong- indraught setting up 
St. George's Channel, which deceives seamen and caused 
the loss of Sir Cloudesley Shovel's squadron. This in- 
draught was probably the cause of what happened to us. 

We had a watchman plac'd in the bow, to whom they 
often called, ^'- Look well out before there,'' and he as often 
answered, ''Ay, ay ;'' but perhaps had his eyes shut, and 
was half asleep at the time, they sometimes answering, as 
is said, mechanically ; for he did not see a light just before 
us, which had been hid by the studding-sails from the 
man at the helm, and from the rest of the watch, but by 
an accidental yaw of the ship was discover'd, and occa- 
sion'd a great alarm, we being very near it, the light appear- 
ing to me as big as a cart-wheel. It was midnight, and our 
captain fast asleep ; but Captain Kennedy, jumping upon 
deck, and seeing the danger, ordered the ship to wear 
round, all sails standing ; an operation dangerous to the 
masts, but it carried us clear, and we escaped shipwreck, 
for we were running right upon the rocks on which the 
light-house was erected. This deliverance impressed me 
strongly with the utility of light-houses, and made me re- 
solve to encourage the building more of them in America, 
if I should return to live there. 

In the morning it was found by the soundings, etc., that 
we were near our port, but a thick fog hid the land from 
our sight. About nine o'clock the fog began to rise, and 
seem'd to be lifted up from the water like a curtain at a 
play-house, discovering underneath, the town of Falmouth, 
the vessels in its harbor, and the fields that surrounded it. 
This was a most pleasing spectacle to those who had been 
so long without any other prospects than the uniform view 
of a vacant ocean, and it gave us the more pleasure as we 
were now free from the anxieties which the state of war 
occasion'd. 

I set out immediately, with my son, for London, and 
we only stopt a little by the way to view Stonehenge on 



l8o FRANKLIN 

Salisbury Plain, and Lord Pembroke's house and gardens, 
with his very curious antiquities at Wilton. We arrived 
in London the 27th of July, 1757. 

As soon as I was settled in a lodging Mr. Charles had 
provided for me, I went to visit Dr. Fothergill, to whom 
I was strongly recommended, and whose counsel respect- 
ing my proceedings I was advis'd to obtain. He was 
against an immediate complaint to government, and 
thought the proprietaries should first be personally ap- 
pli'd to, who might possibly be induc'd by the interposi- 
tion and persuasion of some private friends, to accommo- 
date matters amicably. I then waited on my old friend 
and correspondent, Mr. Peter Collinson, who told me that 
John Hanbury, the great Virginia merchant, had request- 
ed to be informed when I should arrive, that he might 
carry me to Lord Granville's, who was then President of 
the Council and wished to see me as soon as possible. I 
agreed to go with him the next morning. Accordingly 
Mr. Hanbury called for me and took me in his carriage 
to that nobleman's, who receiv'd me with great civility ; 
and after some questions respecting the present state of 
affairs in America and discourse thereupon, he said to 
me : " You Americans have wrong ideas of the nature of 
your constitution ; you contend that the king's instruc- 
tions to his governors are not laws, and think yourselves 
at liberty to regard or disregard them at your own dis- 
cretion. But those instructions are not like the pocket 
instructions given to a minister going abroad, for regulat- 
ing his conduct in some trifling point of ceremony. They 
are first drawn up by judges learned in the laws ; they 
are then considered, debated, and perhaps amended in 
Council, after which the}'^ are signed by the king. They 
are then, so far as they relate to you, the law of the land, 
for the king is the LEGISLATOR OF THE Colonies." I 
told his lordship this was new doctrine to me. I had 
always understood from our charters that our laws were 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY l8i 

to be made by our Assemblies, to be presented indeed to 
the king for his royal assent, but that being once given 
the king could not repeal or alter them. And as the As- 
semblies could not make permanent laws without his 
assent, so neither could he make a law for them without 
theirs. He assur'd me I was totally mistaken. I did not 
think so, however, and his lordship's conversation having 
a little alarm'd me as to what might be the sentiments of 
the court concerning us, I wrote it down as soon as I re- 
turn'd to my lodgings. I recollected that about 20 years 
before, a clause in a bill brought into Parliament by the 
ministry had propos'd to make the king's instructions 
laws in the colonies, but the clause was thrown out by 
the Commons, for which we adored them as our friends 
and friends of liberty, till by their conduct towards us in 
1765 it seem'd that they had refus'd that point of sover- 
eignty to the king only that they might reserve it for 
themselves. 

After some days, Dr. Fothergill having spoken to the 
proprietaries, they agreed to a meeting with me at Mr. T. 
Penn's house in Spring Garden. The conversation at 
first consisted of mutual declarations of disposition to 
reasonable accommodations, but I suppose each party 
had its own ideas of what should be meant by reasonable. 
We then went into consideration of our several points of 
complaint, which I enumerated. The proprietaries justi- 
fy'd their conduct as well as they could, and I the Assem- 
bly's. We now appeared very wide, and so far from each 
other in our opinions as to discourage all hope of agree- 
ment. However, it was concluded that I should give 
them the heads of our complaints in writing, and they 
promis'd then to consider them. I did so soon after, but 
they put the paper into the hands of their solicitor, Ferdi- 
nand John Paris, who managed for them all their law 
business in their great suit with the neighbouring pro- 
prietary of Maryland, Lord Baltimore, which had sub- 
sisted 70 years, and wrote for them all their papers and 



1 82 FRANKLIN 

messages in their dispute with the Assembly. He was a 
proud, angry man, and as I had occasionally in the an- 
swers of the Assembly treated his papers with some 
severity, they being really weak in point of argument and 
haughty in expression, he had conceived a mortal enmity 
to me, which discovering itself whenever we met, I de- 
clin'd the proprietary's proposal that he and I should dis- 
cuss the heads of complaint between our two selves, and 
refus'd treating with any one but them. They then by 
his advice put the paper into the hands of the Attorney 
and Solicitor-General for their opinion and counsel upon 
it, where it lay unanswered a year wanting eight days, 
during which time I made frequent demands of an answer 
from the proprietaries, but without obtaining any other 
than that they had not yet received the opinion of the 
Attorney and Solicitor-General. What it was when they 
did receive it I never learnt, for they did not communi- 
cate it to me, but sent a long message to the Assembly 
drawn and signed by Paris, reciting my paper, com- 
plaining of its want of formality, as a rudeness on my 
part, and giving a flimsy justification of their conduct, 
adding that they should be willing to accommodate mat- 
ters if the Assembly would send out some person of candour 
to treat with them for that purpose, intimating thereby 
that I was not such. 

The want of formality or rudeness was, probably, my 
not having address'd the paper to them with their assum'd 
titles of True and Absolute Proprietaries of the Province 
of Pennsylvania, which I omitted as not thinking it neces- 
sary in a paper, the intention of Avhich was only to reduce 
to a certainty by writing, what in conversation I had de- 
livered viva voce. 

But during this delay, the Assembly having prevailed 
with Gov'r Denny to pass an act taxing the proprietary 
estate in common with the estates of the people, which 
was the grand point in dispute, they omitted answering 
the messagre. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



183 



When this act however came over, the proprietaries, 
counselled by Paris, determined to oppose its receiving 
the royal assent. Accordingly they petition'd the king in 
Council, and a hearing was appointed in which two law- 
yers were employ'd by them against the act, and two by 
me in support of it. They alledg'd that the act was in- 
tended to load the proprietary estate in order to spare 
those of the people, and that if it were suffer'd to continue 
in force, and the proprietaries who were in odium with 
the people, left to their mercy in proportioning the taxes, 
they would inevitably be ruined. We reply'd that the act 
had no such intention, and would have no such effect. 
That the assessors were honest and discreet men under 
an oath to assess fairly and equitably, and that any advan- 
tage each of them might expect in lessening his own tax 
by augmenting that of the proprietaries was too trifling to 
induce them to perjure themselves. This is the purport 
of what I remember as urged by both sides, except that 
we insisted strongly on the mischievous consequences that 
must attend a repeal, for that the money, ^100,000, being 
printed and given to the king's use, expended in his serv- 
ice, and now spread among the people, the repeal would 
strike it dead in their hands to the ruin of many, and the 
total discouragement of future grants, and the selfishness 
of the proprietors in soliciting such a general catastrophe, 
merely from a groundless fear of their estate being taxed 
too highly, was insisted on in the strongest terms. On 
this. Lord Mansfield, one of the counsel rose, and beckon- 
ing me took me into the clerk's chamber, while the law- 
yers were pleading, and asked me if I was really of opin- 
ion that no injury would be done the proprietary estate 
in the execution of the act. I said certainly. " Then," 
says he, " 3^ou can have little objection to enter into an 
engagement to assure that point." I answer'd, " None at 
all." He then call'd in Paris, and after some discourse, 
his lordship's proposition was accepted on both sides ; a 
paper to the purpose was drawn up by the Clerk of the 



l84 FRANKLIN 

Council, which I sign'd with Mr. Charles, who was also 
an Agent of the Province for their ordinary affairs, when 
Lord Mansfield returned to the Council Chamber, where 
finally the law was allowed to pass. Some changes were 
however recommended and we also engaged they should 
be made by a subsequent law, but the Assembly did not 
think them necessary ; for one year's tax having been 
levied by the act before the order of Council arrived, they 
appointed a committee to examine the proceedings of the 
assessors, and on this committee they put several particu- 
lar friends of the proprietaries. After a full enquiry, they 
unanimously sign'd a report that they found the tax had 
been assess'd with perfect equity. 

The Assembly looked into ray entering into the first 
part of the engagement, as an essential service to the Prov- 
ince, since it secured the credit of the paper money then 
spread over all the country. They gave me their thanks 
in form when I return'd. But the proprietaries were en- 
raged at Governor Denny for having pass'd the act, and 
turn'd him out with threats of suing him for breach of 
instructions which he had given bond to observe. He, 
however, having done it at the instance of the General, 
and for His Majesty's service, and having some powerful 
interest at court, despis'd the threats and they were never 
put in execution. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 

SELECTED FROM DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S "POOR 
RICHARD'S ALMANACK," 1733-1758 



Preface 

Who is Poor Richard? People oft enquire. 
Where lives ? What is he ? — never yet the nigher. 
Somewhat to ease your Curiositie, 
Take these slight Sketches of my Dame and me. 

Thanks to kind Readers and a careful Wife, 
With plenty bless'd, I lead an easy Life ; 
My business Writing ; less to drain the Mead, 
Or crown the barren Hill with useful Shade ; 
In the smooth Glebe to see the Plowshare worn. 
And fill the Granary with needful Corn. 
Press nectarous Cyder from my loaded Trees, 
Print the sweet Butter, turn the Drying Cheese. 
Some Books we read, tho' few there are that hit 
The happy Point where Wisdom joins with Wit ; 
That set fair Virtue naked to our View, 
And teach us what is decent, what is true. 
The Friend sincere, and honest Man, with Joy 
Treating or treated oft our Time employ. 
Our Table next. Meals temperate ; and our Door 
Op'ning spontaneous to the bashful Poor. 
Free from the bitter Rage of Party Zeal, 
All those we love who seek the publick Weal. 

Who is strong ? He that can conquer his bad Habits. 

Who is rich ? He that rejoices in his Portion. 

185 



l86 FRANKLIN 

Our youthful Preacher see, intent on Fame ; 
Warm to gain Souls ? — No, 'tis to gain a Name. 
Behold his Hands display'd, his Body rais'd ; 

With what a Zeal he labours to be prais'd. 

Touch'd with each Weakness which he does arraign, 
With Vanity he talks against the Vain ; 
With Ostentation does to Meekness guide ; 
Proud of his Periods form'd to strike at Pride. 

He that has not got a Wife, is not yet a compleat 
Man. 

Without Repentance none to Heav'n can go. 
Yet what Repentance is few seem to know : 
'Tis not to cr)- out Mercy, or to sit 
And droop, or to confess that thou hast fail'd ; 
'Tis to bewail the Sins thou didst commit. 
And not commit those Sins thou hast bewaiTd. 
He that be^vails, and noi forsakes them too. 
Confesses rather what he means to do. 

What you would seem to be, be really. 

If you'd lose a troublesome Visitor, lend him money. 

Tart Words make no Friends ; spoonful of honey will 
catch more flies than Gallon of Vinegar. 

O. form'd Heav'n's Dictates nobly to rehearse, 
Preacher divine ! accept the grateful \'erse. 
Thou hast the Power, the harden'd Heart to warm, 
To grieve, to raise, to terrify, to charm ; 
To fix the Soul on God, to teach the Mind 
To know the Dignity of Human Kind ; 
By stricter Rules well-govemM Life to scan, 
And practise o'er the Angel in the Man. 

Still be vour darling Study Nature's Laws ; 

And to its Fountain trace up even,- Cause. 

Explore, for such it is, this high Abode, 

And tread the Paths which Boyle and Ne-wion trod. 

Lo, Earth smiles wide, and radiant Heav'n looks down. 

All fair, all gay, and urgent to be known ! 

Attend, and here are sown Delights immense. 

For everv Intellect, and everv Sense. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 187 

Those that have much Business must have much 
Pardon. 

Discontented Minds, and Fevers of the Body are not 
to be cured by changing Beds or Businesses. 

When great Augustus ruled the World and Rome, 
The Cloth he wore was spun and wove at Home, 
His Empress ply'd the Distaff and the Loom. 
Old England's Laws the proudest Beauty name, 
When single, Spinster, and when married, Dame, 
For Housewifery is Woman's noblest Fame. 
The Wisest household Cares to Women yield, 
A large, an useful and a grateful Field. 

You may be too cunning for One, but not for All. 

Genius without Education is like Silver in the Mine. 

Many would live by their Wits, but break for want of 
stock. 

Ask and have, is sometimes dear buying. 

Cut the Wings of your Hens and Hopes, lest they 
lead you a weary Dance after them. 

Anger warms the Invention, but overheats the Oven. 

PRECEPT I 
In Things of moment, on thy self depend. 
Nor trust too far thy Servant or thy Friend : 
With private Views, thy Friend may promise fair. 
And Servants very seldom prove sincere. 

PRECEPT II 

What can be done, with Care perform to Day, 
Dangers unthought-of will attend Delay ; 
Your distant Prospects all precarious are. 
And Fortune is as fickle as she's fair. 

PRECEPT III 

Nor trivial Loss, nor trivial Gain despise ; 
Molehills, if often heap'd, to Mountains rise. 
Weigh every small Expence, and nothing waste. 
Farthings long sav'd, amount to Pounds at last. 



l88 FRANKLIN 

It is Ill-manners to silence a Fool, and Cruelty to let 
him go on. 

Scarlet, Silk and Velvet have put out the Kitchen 
Fire. 

He that would catch Fish, must venture his Bait. 

Men take more pains to mask than mend. 

Pride and the Gout are seldom cur'd throughout. " 

We are not so sensible of the greatest Health as of the 
least Sickness. 

A good Example is the best Sermon. 

The honest Man takes Pains, and then enjoys Pleas- 
ures ; the knave takes Pleasure, and then suffers Pains. 

Think of three Things, whence you came, where you 
are going, and to whom you must account. 

A change of fortune hurts a wise man no more than a 
change of the moon. 

A Mob's a Monster ; Heads enough but no Brains. 

The Devil sweetens Poison with Honey. 

Old Age ivill come, Disense may come before, 
Fifteen is full as mortal as Threescore. 
Thy Fortune and thy Charms may soon decay ; 
But grant these Fugitives prolong their Stay, 
Their basis totters, their Foundation shakes. 
Life that supports them, in a Moment breaks ; 
Then wrought into the Soul, let Virtue shine, 
The Ground eternal, as the work divine. 

He that can not bear with other People's Passions, 
can not govern his own. 

He that by the Plough would thrive, himself must 
either hold or drive. 

The Master's Eye will do more Work than both his 
Hands. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



189 



Observe old Vellum ; he praises former times, as if 
he'd a mind to sell 'em. 

Kings have long Arms, but misfortune longer: Let 
none think themselves out of her Reach. 

A Man without a Wife, is but half a Man. 

Speak little, do much. 

He that would travel much, should eat little. 

Love your Enemies, for they tell you 3^our Faults. 

The Wit of Conversation consists more in finding it in 
others, than shewing a great deal 3^ourself. He who 
goes out of your Company pleased with his own Face- 
tiousness and Ingenuity, will the sooner come into it 
again. Most men had rather please than admire you, 
and seek less to be instructed and diverted, than approved 
and applauded, and it is certainly the most delicate Sort 
of Pleasure, to please anotJier. 

Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed ; too severe, sel- 
dom executed. 

O sacred Solitude ! divine Retreat ! 
Choice of the Prudent ! Envy of the Great ! 
By thy pure Stream, or in thy waving Shade, 
We court fair Wisdom, that celestial Maid : 
The genuine Offspring of her lov'd Embrace 
(Strangers on Earth) are Innocence and Peace. 
There blest with Health, with Business unperplext, 
This Life we relish, and insure the next. 

Does Mischief, Misconduct, and Warning displease 
ye ; Think there's a Providence 'twill make ye eas3\ 

Mine is better than Ours. 

When Prosperity was well mounted, she let go the 
Bridle, and soon came tumbling out of the Saddle. 

Where there is Hunger, Law is not regarded ; and 
where Law is not regarded, there will be Hunger. 



I^o FRANKLIN 

Two dry Sticks will burn a green One. 

A good Wife & Health, is a Man's best Wealth. 

A quarrelsome Man has no good Neighbours. 

Wide will wear, but narrow will tear. 

Silks and satins put out the kitchen fire. 

Vice knows she's ugly, so puts on her Mask. 

There are lazy Minds as well as lazy Bodies. 

Most People return small Favours, acknowledge mid- 
dling ones, and repay great ones with Ingratitude. 

A great Talker may be no Fool, but he is one that re- 
lies on him. 

Some Worth it argues, a Friend's Worth to know ; 
Virtue to own the Virtue of a Foe. 

Prosperity discovers Vice, Adversity Virtue. 

Many have quarrel'd about Religion, that never prac- 
tised it. 

Sudden Pow'r is apt to be insolent, Sudden Liberty 
saucy ; that behaves best which has grown gradually. 

Diligence overcomes Difficulties, Sloth makes them. 

Neglect mending a small Fault, and 'twill soon be a 
great One. 

Bad Gains are truly Losses. 

Wealth is a Cheat, believe not what it says ; 
Greatly it promises, but never pays. 
Misers may startle, but they shall be told. 
That Wealth is Bankrupt, and insolvent Gold. 

The most exquisite Folly is made of Wisdom spun too 
fine. 

There was never a good knife made of bad Steel. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



191 



Many a Man would have been worse, if his Estate had 
been better. 

Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being un- 
wiUing to learn. 

Necessity has no Law ; Why ? Because 'tis not to be 
had without Money. 

The Wolf sheds his Coat once a Year, his Disposition 
never. 

When a Friend deals with a Friend, Let the bargain 
be clear and well penn'd, That they may continue Friends 
to the End. 

He that never eats too much, will never be lazy. 

On him true Happiness shall wait 
Who shunning noisy Pomp and State 
Those little Blessings of the Great 

Consults the Golden Mean. 
In prosp'rous Gales with Care he steers. 
Nor adverse Winds, dejected, fears. 
In ev'ry Turn of Fortune bears 

A Face and Mind serene. 

Against Diseases here, the strongest Fence, 
Is the defensive Virtue, Abstinence. 

You may sometimes be much in the wrong, in owning 
your being in the right. 

What more valuable than Gold? Diamond. Than 
Diamonds? Virtue. 

To-day is Yesterday's Pupil. 

Tho' Modesty is a Virtue, Bashfulness is a Vice. 

Hide not your Talents, they for Use were made. 
What's a Sun-Dial in the Shade? 

In Rivers and bad Governments, the lightest Things 
swim at top. 

It is not Leisure that is not used. 



IQ2 FRANKLIN 

When Reason preaches, if you don't hear her she'll 
box vour Ears. 

Pillgrarlic was in the Accusative Case, and bespoke a 
Lawyer in the Vocative, who could not understand him 
till he made use ot the Dative. 

'Tis great confidence in a friend to tell him your 
faults, oTeater to tell him his. 

What signifies your Patience, if you can't find it when 
you want it ? 

I en\T none their Pag^eantn- and Show ; 

I en\y none the Gilding of their Woe. 

Gi\"e me. indulgi?nt Heav'n. with Mind serene 

And gtiiltless Heart, to range the Sylvan Scene. 

No splendid Poverty, no smiling Care, 

No well-breii Hate, or servile Grandeur there. 

There pleasing Objects useful Thought sug-gest. 

The Sense is ravish'd and the Soul is blest ; 

On ever\- Thorn delightful Wisdom grow-s. 

In e\-er>- Rill a sweet Instruction flows. 

Time enough always proves little enough. 

It is wise not to seek a Secret and Honest not to re- 
veal it. 

.\ slip of the foot >t>u may soon reco\'er. 

But a slip of the tongue \-ou may ne\-er get o\-er. 

EveiT Man for himsdf , etc. 

A Town fear'd a Siege, and held Consultation. 

What was the best Method of Fonitication : 

A gra\"e skiltul Mason declar'd his Opinion. 

That nothing but Stone could secure the Dominion. 

A Carpenter said. Tho' that was well spoke 

Yet he'd rather ad\-ise to defend it with Oak. 

A Tanner much wiser than both these together. 

Cr\-'d. Try wijf urn ^'tTitsf, tut KOiAix^'s li'iir L^atker. 

What is serving God ? 'Tis doing good to Man. 

*Tis easier to prevent bad habits than to break them. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



193 



The good or ill hap of a good or ill life, is the good or 
ill choice of a good or ill wife. 

Fair Summer's gone, and Nature's Charms decay, 
See gloomy Clouds obscure the cheerful Day ! 
Now hung with Pearls the dropping Trees appear, 
Their faded Honours scattered here and there. 
Behold the Groves that shine with silver Frost 
Their Beauty wither'd, and their Verdure lost. 
Sharp Boreas blows, and Nature feels Decay, 
Time conquers all and we must Time obey. 

Every Man has assurance enough to boast of his hon- 
esty — few of their Understanding. 

Interest which blinds some People, enlightens others. 

These Blessings, Reader, may Heav'n grant to thee ; 

A faithful Friend, equal in Love's degree ; 

Land fruitful, never conscious of the Curse, 

A liberal Heart and never-failing Purse; 

A smiling Conscience, a contented mind ; 

A temp'rate knowledge with true Wisdom join'd ; 

A life as long as fair, and when expir'd, 

A kindly Death, unfear'd as undesir'd. 

An Ounce of wit that is bought Is worth a pound that 
is taught. 

He that resolves to mend hereafter, resolves not to 
mend now. 

Many complain of their memory, few of their judg- 
ment. 

Fools make feasts and wise men eat them. 

One man ma}'^ be more cunning than another, but not 
more cunning than everybody else. 

The learned Fool writes his Nonsense in better Lan- 
guage than the unlearned ; but still 'tis Nonsense. 

A Child thinks 20 Shillings and 20 Years can scarce 
ever be spent. 
13 



IQ^ FRANKLIN 

Ambition often spends foolishly what Avarice had 
wickedly collected. 

Learning to the Studious; Riches to the Careful; 
Power to the Bold ; Heaven to the Virtuous. 

Now glad the Poor with Christmas Cheer ; 
Thank God you're able so to end the Year. 

If you would reap Praise you must sow the Seeds, 
gentle Words and useful Deeds. 

Ignorance leads Men into a party, and Shame keeps 
them from getting out again. 

Haste makes Waste. 

Where there's marriage without love, there will be 
love without marriage. 

Quarrels never could last long, 
If on one side only lay the wrong. 

On a Bee, stifled in honey. 
From flower to flower, with eager pains, 
See the poor busy lab'rer fly ! 
When all that from her toil she gains, 
Is, in the sweets she hoards, to die. 
'Tis thus, would man the truth believe. 
With life's soft sweets, each fav'rite joy ; 
If we taste wisely, they relieve ; 
But if we plunge too deep, destroy. 

Let no pleasure tempt thee, no profit allure thee, no 
ambition corrupt thee, no example sway thee, no persua- 
sion move thee, to do anything which thou knowest to 
be evil ; so shalt thou always live jollily : for a good con- 
science is a continual Christmas. 

Honours change manners. 

You may drive a gift without a gimblet. 

Friendship cannot live with Ceremony, nor without 
Civility. 

Praise little, dispraise less. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD I95 

He that spills the Rum loses that only ; He that drinks 
it, often loses both that and himself. 

That Ignorance makes devout, if right the Notion, 
Troth, Rufus, thou'rt a Man of great Devotion. 

He that can bear a Reproof, and mend by it, if he is 
not wise, is in a fair way of being so. 

How few there are who have courage enough to own 
their Faults, or resolution enough to mend them ! 

Men differ daily, about things which are subject to 
Sense, is it likely then they should agree about things 
invisible ? 

Democriius, dear Droll, revisit Earth ; 

And with our Follies glut thy heighten'd Mirth : 

Sad Heraclittis, serious Wretch, return ; 

In louder Grief, our greater Crimes to mourn. 

Between you both, I unconcern'd stand by : 

Hurt, can I laugh? and honest, need I cry? 

There are three Things extreamly hard, Steel, a Dia- 
mond and to know one's self. 

Hunger is the best Pickle. 

He is a Governor that governs his Passions, and he a 
Servant that serves them. 

When the Wine enters, out goes the Truth. 

If you would be loved, love and be loveable. 

If worldly Goods cannot save me from Death, they 
ousfht not to hinder me of eternal Life. 



'&' 



Man only from himself can suffer Wrong ; 
His Reason fails as his Desires grow strong : 
Hence, wanting Ballast, and too full of Sail, 
He lies expos'd to every rising Gale. 
From Youth to Age, for Happiness he's bound ; 
He splits on Rocks, or turns his Bark aground ; 
Or, wide of Land, a desart Ocean views. 
And. to the last, the flying Port pursues. 



196 FRANKLIN 

When Knaves fall out, honest Men get their goods : 
When Priests dispute, we come at the Truth. 

A large train makes a light Purse. 

Death takes no bribes. 

Many a Man's own Tongue gives Evidence against his 
Understanding. 

Nothing dries sooner than a Tear. 

From Earth to Heav'n when Justice fled 
The Laws decided in her Stead 
From Heav'n to Earth should she return 
Lawyers might beg, and Law books burn. 

Suspicion may be no fault, but showing it may be a 
great one. 

Wealth and content are not always bed-fellows. 

Take Courage, Mortal ; Death can't banish thee out 
of the Universe. 

The Sting of a Reproach is the Truth of it. 

Who is wise ? He that learns from every One. 
Who is powerful ? He that governs his Passions. 
Who is rich ? He that is content. 
Who is that ? Nobody. 

It's the easiest Thing in the World for a Man to de- 
ceive Himself. 

Neither trust nor contend, nor lay wagers nor lend ; 
And you'll have peace to your life's end. 

It's common for Men to give pretended Reasons in- 
stead of one real one. 

All would live long, but none would be old. 

If passion drives, let reason hold the reins. 

Drink does not drown care, but waters it and makes it 
grow faster. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD I97 

Sorrow is good for nothing but Sin. 

Many a Man thinks he is buying Pleasure, when he is 
really selling himself a Slave to it. 

Graft good Fruit all, Or graft not at all. 

Liberality is not giving much, but giving wisely. 

No workman without tools, 
Nor Lawyer without Fools, 
Can live by their Rules. 

The painful Preacher, like a candle bright, 
Consumes himself in giving others Light. 

Speak and speed : the close mouth catches no flies. 

As honest Hodge the Farmer sow'd his Field, 
Chear'd with the Hope of future Gain 'twould yield. 
Two upstart Jacks in Office, proud and vain. 
Come riding by, and thus insult the Swain : 
You drudge and sweat, and labour here. Old Boy, 
But we the Fruit of your hard Toil enjoy. 
Belike you may, quoth Hodge, and but your Due, 
For, Gentlemen, 'tis Hemp I'm sowing now. 

Half Wits talk much but say little. 

If Jack's in love, he's no judge of Jill's Beauty. 

Most fools think they are only ignorant. 

Pardoning the Bad, is injuring the Good. 

He is not well bred, that cannot bear Ill-Breeding in 
others. 

Harry Smatter has a Mouth for every Matter. 

When you're good to others, you are best to yourself. 

He that's secure is not safe. 

The Muses love the Morning. 

Content makes poor men rich ; Discontent makes rich 
Men poor. 



198 



FRANKLIN 



Too much plenty makes Mouth dainty. 

'Tis easier to suppress the first Desire, than to satisfy 
all that follow it. 

Don't judge of Men's Wealth or Piety, by their Sun- 
day Appearances. 

Friendship increases by visiting Friends, but by visit- 
ing seldom. 

He that hath no Ill-Fortune will be troubled with 
good. 

Where sense is wanting, Everything is wanting. 

The Horse thinks one thing, and he that saddles him 
another. 

Love your Neighbour ; yet don't pull down your 
Hedge. 

Love and be loved. 

Fear not death ; for the sooner we die, the longer shall 
we be immortal. 

Observe all men, thyself most. 

The monarch of long regal line, 
Was rais'd from dust as frail as mine : 
Can he pour health into his veins. 
Or cool the fever's restless pains ? — 
Can he (worn down in nature's course) 
New-brace his feeble nerves with force ? 
Can he (how vain is mortal pow'r !) 
Stretch life beyond the destin'd hour? 

Promises may get thee friends, but non-performance 
will turn them into enemies. 

Those who in quarrels interpose, 
Must often wipe a bloody nose. 

Beware, beware ! he'll cheat 'ithout scruple, who can 
without fear. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 199 

In other men we faults can spy, 
And blame the mote that dims their eye ; 
Each little speck and blemish find ; 
To our own stronger errors blind. 

The World is full of fools and faint hearts ; and yet 
every one has courage enough to bear the misfortunes, 
and wisdom enough to manage the Affairs of his neigh- 
bour. 

Content and riches seldom meet together, 
Riches take thou, contentment I had rather, 

For want of a Nail the Shoe is lost ; for want of a Shoe 
the Horse is lost ; for want of a Horse the Rider is lost. 

Want of Care does us more damage than Want of 
Knowledge. 

He who buys had need have 100 Eyes, but one's 
enough for him that sells the Stuff. 

There are no fools so troublesome as those that have 
wit. 

Idleness is the greatest prodigality. 

Good sense is a thing all need, few have, and none 
think they want. 

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time : for 
that's the stuff life is made of. 

A greater grief no woman sure can know. 

Who (with ten children) — who will have me now ? 

Where yet was ever found the mother, 
Who'd change her booby for another? 

At 20 years of age the will reigns ; at 30 the wit ; at 
40 the judgment. 

Christianity commands us to pass by injuries ; policy, 
to let them pass by us. 

Great spenders are bad lenders. 



200 FRANKLIN 

All blood is alike ancient. 

Virtue and Happiness are Mother and Daughter. 

The generous Mind least regards Money, and yet 
most feels the Want of it. 

The poor have little, — beggars none ; 
The rich too much — enough, not one. 

A carrier every night and morn 
Would see his horses eat their corn : 
This sunk the hostler's vails, 'tis true. 
But then his horses had their due. 
Were we so cautious in all cases, 
Small gain would rise from greater places. 

Let thy discontents be secrets. 

Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that 
have not wit enough to be honest. 

How many observe Christ's Birth-day ! How few his 
Precepts ! O ! 'tis easier to keep Holidays than Com- 
mandments. 

Hear Reason, or she'll make you feel her. 

Give me yesterday's Bread, this Day's Flesh, and last 
Year's Cyder. 

Ah simple Man ! when a boy two precious jewels were 
given thee, Time and good Advice ; one thou hast lost, 
and the other thrown away. 

'Tis easy to frame a good bold resolution ; 
But hard is the Task that concerns execution. 

Cold & cunning come from the north ; 
But cunning sans wisdom is nothing worth. 

Many a long dispute among Divines may be thus 
abridg'd : It is so : It is not so, It is so ; It is not so. 

As Pride increases, Fortune declines. 

Keep thou from the Opportunity, and God will keep 
thee from the Sin. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 201 

Where there's no Law, there's no Bread. 
If you'd be lov'd, make yourself amiable. 
A true Friend is the best Possession. 

A Musketo just starv'd, in a sorry Condition, 
Pretended to be a most skilful Musician ; 
He comes to a Bee-hive, and there he would stay- 
To teach the Bees' Children to sing Sol la fa. 
The Bees told him plainly the Way of their Nation, 
Was breeding up Youth in some honest Vocation ; 
Lest not bearing Labour, they should not be fed, 
And then curse their Parents for being high bred. 

Fear God, and your Enemies will fear you. 
The same man cannot be both friend and flatterer. 
He who multiplies riches multiplies cares. 
An old man in a house is a good sign. 

'Tis vain to repine, 
Tho' a learned Divine 
Will die at nine. 

If you do what you should not, you must hear what 
you would not. 

Defer not thy well doing ; be not like St. George, who 
is always a-horseback, and never rides on. 

Wish not so much to live long, as to live well. 

These lines may be read backward or forward. 

Joy, Mirth, Triumph, I do defie: 
Destroy me death, fain would I die : 
Forlorn am I, love is exil'd. 
Scorn smiles thereat ; hope is beguil'd ; 

Men banish'd bliss, in woe must dwell. 

Then joy, mirth, triumph, all farewell. 

As we must account for every idle word, so we must 
for every idle silence. 

Philosophy as well as Foppery often changes Fashion. 



202 FRANKLIN 

I have never seen the Philosopher's stone that turns 
lead into gold, but I have known the pursuit of it turn a 
man's gold into lead. 

If thou dost ill, the joy fades, not the pains ; 
If well, the pain doth fade, the joy remains. 

Anger is never without a Reason, but seldom with a 
good One. 

He that is of Opinion Money will do every Thing may 
well be suspected of doing every Thing for Money. 

An ill Wound, but not an ill Name, may be healed. 

When out of Favour, none know thee ; when in, thou 
dost not know thyself. 

A lean Award is better than a fat Judgment. 

God, Parents, and Instructors can never be requited. 

Speak with contempt of none, from slave to king, 
The meanest Bee hath, and will use, a sting. 

He that builds before he counts the Cost, acts fool- 
ishly ; and he that counts before he builds, finds that he 
did not count wisely. 

Patience in Market is worth Pounds in a year. 

Don't think so much of your own Cunning, as to for- 
get other Men's : a Cunning Man is overmatched by a 
cunning Man and a Half. 

Willows are weak, but they bind the Faggot. 

You may give a Man an Office, but you cannot give 
him Discretion. 

Knaves & Nettles are akin ; stroak 'em kindly, yet 
they'll sting. 

To bear other people's afflictions, every one has cour- 
age and enough to spare. 

An empty bag cannot stand upright. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 203 



POOR RICHARD FOR 1758 

Courteous Reader, 

I have heard that nothing gives an Author so great 
Pleasure, as to find his Works respectfully quoted by 
other learned Authors. This pleasure I have seldom en- 
joyed, for tho' I have been, if I may say it without Van- 
ity, an eminent Author of Almanacks annually now a full 
quarter of a Century, my Brother Authors in the same 
Way, for what Reason I know not, have ever been very 
sparing in their Applauses ; and no other Author has 
taken the least notice of me, so that did not my Writings 
produce me some solid Pudding, the great Deficiency of 
Praise would have quite discouraged me. 

I concluded at length, that the People were the best 
Judges of my Merit ; for they buy my Works ; and be- 
sides, in my Rambles, where I am not personally known, 
I have frequently heard one or other of my Adages re- 
peated, with, as Poor Richard says, at the End on't ; this 
gave me some Satisfaction, as it showed not only that my 
Instructions were regarded, but discovered likewise some 
Respect for my Authority ; and I own that to encourage 
the practice of remembering and repeating those wise 
Sentences, I have sometimes quoted myself with great 
gravity. 

Judge then how much I must have been gratified by 
an Incident I am going to relate to you. I stopt my 
Horse lately where a great Number of people were col- 
lected at a Vendue of Merchant Goods. The Hour of 
Sale not being come, they were conversing on the Bad- 
ness of the Times, and one of the Company call'd to a 
plain clean old Man, with white Locks, Pray, Father Abra- 
ham, what think you of the Times ? Wont these heavy Taxes 
quite ruin the Country ? How shall we be ever able to pay 

them? What would you advise us to? Ydi\\\Qr Abraham 

stood up, and reply 'd. If you'd have my Advice, I'll give 



204 



FRANKLIN 



it you in short, /or a Word to the Wise is enough, and ma7iy 
Words wont fill a Bushel, as Poor Richard says. They join'd 
in desiring him to speak his Mind, and gathering round 
him, he proceeded as follows : 

" Friends, says he, and Neighbours, the Taxes are in- 
deed very heavy, and if those laid on by the Government 
were the only Ones we had to pay, we might more easily 
discharge them ; but we have many others, and much 
more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as 
much by our Idleness, three times as much by our Pride, 
and four times as much by our Folly, and from these 
Taxes the Commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by 
allowing an Abatement. However let us hearken to good 
Advice, and something may be done for us ; God helps 
thetn that help themselves, as Poor Richard says, in his Alma- 
nack of 1733. 

It would be thought a hard Government that should 
tax its People one tenth Part of their Time, to be em- 
ployed in its Service. But Idleness taxes many of us 
much more, if we reckon all that is spent in absolute Sloth, 
or doing of nothing, with that which is spent in idle Em- 
ployments or Amusements, that amount to nothing. 
Sloth, by bringing on Diseases absolutely shortens Life. 
Sloth, like Rust, consumes faster than Labour wears, while the 
used Key is akvays bright, as Poor Richard says. But dost 
thou love Life, then do not squander Time, for that's the Stuff 
Life is made of, as Poor Richard says. — How much more 
than is necessary do we spend in Sleep ! forgetting that 
The Sleeping Fox catches tio Poultry, and that there zvill be 
sleeping enough in the Grave, as Poor Richard says. If Time 
be of all Things the most precious, wasting of Time must 
t be, as Poor Richard says, the greatest Prodigality, since, as 
he elsewhere tells us. Lost Time is never found agai^i ; and 
what we call Time-enough, always proves little enough. Let 
us then up and be doing, and doing to the Purpose ; so 
by Diligence shall we do more with less perplexity. Sloth 
makes all things difficulty but Industry all Things easy, as Poor 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



205 



Richard says ; and He that riseth late, must Jrot all Day, and 
shall scarce overtake his Business at night. While Laziness 
travels so slowly, that Poverty soon overtakes him, as we read 
in Poor Richard, who adds, Drive thy Business, let not that 
drive thee ; and Early to Bed, and early to rise, makes a Man 
healthy, tvealthy, and wise. • 

So what signifies wishing and hoping for better times. 
We may make these Times better if we besfir ourselves. 
Industry need not wish, as Poor .Richard says, and He that 
lives upon Hope will die fasti^ig. There are no Gains, without 
Pains ; then Help Hands, for I have no Lands, or if I have, 
they are smartly taxed. And as Poor Richard likewise 
observes, He that hath a Trade hath an. Estate, and He that 
hath a Calling hath an Office of Profit and Ho?iour ; but then 
the Trade must be worked at, and the Calling well fol- 
lowed, or neither the Estate, nor the Office, will enable us 
to pay our Taxes. — If we are industrious we shall never 
starve; for as Poor Richard says. At the working Mans 
House Hjinger looks in, but dares riot enter. Nor will the 
Bailiff or the Constable enter, for Industry pays Debts while 
Despair encreaseth them, says Poor Richard. — What though 
you have found no Treasure, nor has any rich Relation 
left you a l^Qg?Lcy, Diligence is the ^Mother of Good-luck, zs 
Poor Richard says, and God gives all things to Industry. Then 
plough deep, while Sluggards sleep, and you shall have Corn 
to sell and to keep, says Poor Dick. Work while it is called 
To-day, for you know not how much you may be hin- 
dered To-morrow,, which makes Poor Richard say. One To- 
day is worth two To-morrozvs ; and farther, Have you some- 
what to do To-morrow, do it To-day. If )'ou were a Servant 
would you not be ashamed that a good Master should 
catch you idle? Are you then your own Master, be 
ashamed to catch yourself idle, as Poor Dick says. When 
there is so much to be done for yourself, your Family, 
your Country, and your gracious King, be up by Peep of 
Day ; Let not the Sun look down and say. Inglorious here he 
lies. Handle your Tools without Mittens ; remember that 



2o6 FRANKLIN 

the Cat in Gloves catches no Mice, as Poor Richard says. 'Tis 
true there is much to be done, and perhaps you are weak- 
handed, but stick to it steadily, and you will see great 
Effects, for constant Dropping wears away Stones, and by 
Diligence and Patience, the Mouse ate in two the Cable ; and 
little Strokes fell great Oaks, as Poor Richard says in his 
Almanack, the Year I cannot just now remember. 

Methinks I hear some of you say, Mnst a Man afford 
himself no Leisure? — I will tell thee. My Friend, what 
Poor Richard says. Employ thy Time well if thou meanest to 
gain Leisure ; and, since thoti art not sure of a Minute, throw 
not azvay an Hour. Leisure is Time for doing something 
useful ; this Leisure the diligent man will obtain, but the 
lazy man never ; so that, as Poor Richard says, a Life of 
Leisure and a Life of Laziness are two Things. Do you 
imagine that Sloth will afford you more Comfort than 
Labour? No, for as Poor Richard says, Trouble springs 
from Ldlcncss, and grievous Toil from needless Ease. Many 
without Labour, tvould live by their WITS only, but they break 
for want of stock. Whereas Industry gives Comfort, and 
Plenty and Respect : Fly Pleasures and they II folloiv you. 
The diligent Spinner has a large Shift ; and 7iow / have a 
Sheep and a Cow, every Body bids me Good morrow, all which 
is well said by Poor Richard. 

But with our Industry, we must likewise be steady, set- 
tled, and careful, and oversee our own Affairs with our own 
Eyes, and not trust too much to others ; for, as Poor Rich- 
ard says, 

/ never saw an oft removed Tree, 

Nor yet an oft removed Family^ 

That throve so well as those that 'settled be. 

And again. Three Removes is as bad as a Fire ; and again, 
L'Ceep thy Shop, and thy Shop will keep thee ; and again. If 
you would have yotir Business done, go ; if not, send. And 
again, 

He that by the Plough must thrive. 
Himself must either hold or drive. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



207 



And again, The Eye of a Master will do more Work than 
both his Hands ; and again, Want of Care does us more Dam- 
age than Want of Knozvledge ; and again, Not to oversee 
Workmen, is to leave them your Purse open. Trusting too 
much to others Care is the Ruin of many ; for, as the 
Almanack says, In the Affairs of this World, Men are saved, 
not by Faith, but by the Want of it ; but a Man's own Care 
is profitable ; for, saith Poor Dick, Learning is to the Studi- 
ous, and Riches to the Careful, as well as Power to the Bold, 
and Heaven to the Virtuous. And farther. If you would 
have a faithful Servant, and one that you like, serve yourself. 
And again, he adviseth to Circumspection and Care, even 
in the smallest Matters, because sometimes a little Neglect 
may breed great Mischief, adding, for want of a Nail, the 
Shoe was lost ; for want of a Shoe the Horse was lost ; and 
for want of a Horse the Rider was lost, being overtaken and 
slain by the Enemy, all for want of Care about a Horse- 
shoe Nail. 

So much for Industry, my Friends, and Attention to 
one's own Business; but to these we must add Frugality, 
if we would make our hidustry more certainly successful. 
A man may, if he knows not how to save as he gets, Keep 
his Nose all his Life to the Grindstone, and die not worth a 
Groat at last. A fat Kitchen makes a lean Will, as Poor 
Richard says ; and 

ATany Estates are spent in the Getting, 

Since Wo7ne7tfor Tea forsook Spinning and Knitting, 

And Men for Punch forsook Hewing and Splitting. 

If you would be wealthy, says he, in another Almanack, 
think of Saving, as well as of Getting: The Indies have not 
made Spain rich, because her Outgoes are greater than her 
Incomes. Away then with your expensive Follies, you 
will not have so much cause to complain of hard Times, 
heavy Taxes, and chargeable Families ; for as Poor Dick 
says, 

Women and Wine, Game and Deceit, 

Make the Wealth small and the Wants great. 



2o8 FRANKLIN 

And farther, What viaintains one Vice ivonld bring up two 
Children. You may think perhaps that a little Tea or a 
little Punch now and then, Diet a little more costly, Clothes 
a little finer, and a little Entertainment now and then, can 
be no great Matter ; but remember what Poor Richard 
says, Many a Little makes a Mickle ; and farther, Beivare 
^t/" little Expe7ices ; a small Leak ivill sink a great Ship ; and 
again, Who Dainties love, shall Beggars prove; and more- 
over, Fools make Feasts, and wise Men eat them. 

Here you are all got together at this Vendue of Fineries 
and Knicknacks. You call them Goods, but if you do not 
take Care, they will prove Evils to some of you. You 
expect they will be sold cheap, and perhaps they may for 
less than they cost ; but if you have no Occasion for them, 
they must be dear to you. Remember what Poor Richard 
says. Buy zvhat thon hast no Need of, and ere long tJiou shalt 
sell thy Necessaries. And again. At a great Petinyworth pause 
a %v]iile : He means, that perhaps the Cheapness is appar- 
ent only, and not real ; or the Bargain, by straitning thee 
in thy Business, may do thee more Harm than Good. 
For in another Place he says. Many have been ruined by buy- 
ing good Pe?inywort/is. Again Poor Richard says, 'Tis fool- 
ish to lay out Money in a Purchase of Repentance ; and yet 
this Folly is practised every Day at Vendues, for want of 
minding the Almanack. Wise Men, as Poor Dick says, 
learn by others Harms, Fools scarcely by their ozvn ; but Felix 
quem faciunt aliena Pericula cautum. Many a one, for the 
Sake of Finery on the Back, have gone with a hungry 
belly, and half starved their Families ; Silks and Sattins, 
Scarlet and Velvets, as Poor Richard says, put out the Kitchen 
Fire. These are not the Necessaries of Life ; they can 
scarcely be called the Conve^iienccs, and yet only because 
they look pretty how many want to have them. The arti- 
ficial Wants of Mankind thus become more numerous 
than the natural; and as Poor Dick says, For one poor Per- 
son there are an hundred indigent. By these, and other 
Extravagancies, the Genteel are reduced to Poverty, and 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



209 



forced to borrow of those whom they formerly despised, 
but who through Indtistry and Frugality have maintained 
their Standing ; in which case it appears plainly, that a 
Plotighmati on his Legs is higJier than a Gentleman on his 
Knees, as Poor Richard says. Perhaps they have had a 
small Estate left them, which they knew not the Getting 
of — they think 'tis Day and will never be Night ; that a little 
to be spent out of so much, is not worth minding ; {a Child 
and a Fool, as Poor Richard says, imagine Twenty Shillings 
and Twenty Years can never be spefit) but, always taking out 
of the Meal-tub, and never putting in, soon comes to the Bot- 
tom; then, as Poor Dick says. When the WelVs dry, they know 
the Worth of Water. But this they might have known be- 
fore, if they had taken his Advice ; If you would know the 
Value of Money, go and try to borrow some ; for, he that goes 
a borrowing goes a sorrowing ; and indeed so does he that 
lends to such People, when he goes to get it i?i agai?i. — 
Poor Dick farther advises, and says, 

Fond Pride of Dress, zs sure a very Curse ; 
E'er Yzxvcy yoii consult, consult your Purse. 

And again, Pride is as loud a Beggar as Want, and a great 
deal more saucy. When you have bought one fine Thing 
you must buy ten more, that your appearance may be all 
of a Piece ; but Poor Dick says, ' Tis easier to suppress the 
first Desire, than to satisfy all that follow it. And 'tis as 
truly Folly for the Poor to ape the Rich, as for the Frog 
to swell, in order to equal the Ox. 

Great Estates may venture more. 

But little Boats should keep near Shore. 

Tis however a Folly soon punished ; for Pride that dines 
on Vanity sups on Contempt, as Poor Richard says. And in 
another Place, Pride breakfasted with Plenty, dined with Pov- 
erty, and supped with Infamy. And, after all, of what Use 
is t\i\^ Pride of Appearance, for which so much is risked, so 
much is suffered ? It cannot promote Health, or ease Pain ; 
14 



2IO FRANKLIN 

it makes no Increase of Merit in the Person, it creates 
Envy, it hastens Misfortune. 

What IS a Butterfly? At best 
He's but a Cuterptllar drest. 
The gaudy Fop's his Picture just, 

as Poor Richard says. 

But what Madness must it be to run in Debt for these 
Superfluities ! We are offered by the Terms of this Ven- 
due, Six Months Credit ; and that perhaps has induced 
some of us to attend it, because we cannot spare the ready 
Money, and hope now to be tine without it. But, ah, 
think what you do when you run in debt; You give to an- 
other Poiver over your Liberty. If you cannot pay at the 
Time, you will be ashamed to see your Creditor ; you will 
be in Fear when you speak to him ; you will make poor 
pitiful sneaking Excuses, and by Degrees come to lose 
your Veracity, and sink into base downright lying ; for as 
Poor Riehard says, The seeond J7ee is Lying, the first is run- 
ning in Debt. And again, to the same Purpose, Lying rides 
upon Debfs Baek. Whereas a freeborn Englishman ought 
not to be ashamed or afraid to see or speak to any Man liv- 
ing. But Poverty often deprives a Man of all Spirit and 
Virtue ; ' Tis hard for an empty Bag to stand upright, as Poor 
Riehard truly says. What would you think of that Prince, 
or that Government, who should issue an Edict forbid- 
ding you to dress like a Gentleman, or a Gentlewoman, 
on Pain of Imprisonment or Servitude! V/ould you not 
say, that you are free, have a Right to dress as you please, 
and that such an Edict wonld be a Breach of your Privi- 
leges, and such a Government tyrannical ! And yet you 
are about to put yourself under that Tyranny when you 
run in Debt for such Dress ! Your Creditor has Author- 
ity at his Pleasure to deprive you of your Liberty, by con- 
fining you in Goal for Life, or to sell you for a Servant, if 
you should not be able to pay him ! When you have got 
your Bargain, you may, perhaps, think little of Payment ; 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 211 

but Creditors, Poor Richard teWs us, have better Memories than 
Debtors ; and in another Place says, Creditors are a super- 
stitious Sect, great observers of set Days and Times. The Day 
comes round before you are aware, and the Demand is 
made before you are prepared to satisfy it. Or if you bear 
your Debt in Mind, the Term which at first seemed so 
long, will, as it lessens, appear extreamly short. Time 
will seem to have added Wings to his Heels as well as 
Shoulders. Those have a short Lent, saith Poor Richard, 
who owe Money to be paid at Easter. Then, since as he says, 
The Borrower is a Slave to the Lender, and the Debtor to the 
Creditor, disdain the Chain, preserve your Freedom ; and 
maintain your Independency; Be industrious z.nd free ; be 
frugal and free. At present, perhaps, you may think 
yourself in thriving Circumstances, and that you can bear 
a little Extravagance without Injury ; but. 

For Age aftd Want save while yon may ; 
No Morning Sun lasts a whole Day^ 

as Poor Richard says. — Gain may be temporary and uncer- 
tain, but ever while you live Experience is constant and 
certain ; and 'tis easier to build two Chinmies than to keep 
one in Fuel, as Poor Richard says. So rather go to Bed sup- 
perless than rise in Debt. 

Get what you can, and what you get hold ; 

' Tis the stone that will turn all your Lead into Gold, 

as Poor Richard says. And when you have got the Phi- 
losopher's Stone, sure you will no longer complain of the 
bad Times, or the Difficulty of paying Taxes. 

This Doctrine, my Friends, is Reason and Wisdom; 
but after all, do not depend too much on your own Indus- 
try, and Frugality, and Prudence, though excellent Things, 
for they may all be blasted without the Blessing of 
Heaven ; and therefore ask that Blessing humbly, and be 
not uncharitable to those that at present seem to want it, 
but comfort and help them. Remember yi?^ suffered, and 
was afterwards prosperous. 



212 FRANKLIN 

And now to conclude, Experience keeps a dear School, 
but Fools tvill learn in no other, and scarce in that ; for it is 
true, we may give Advice, but we catinot give Conduct, as Poor 
Richard says : However, remember this, They that won't be 
counselled, cant be helped, 3.s Poor Richard says : and farther. 
That if you zvill not hear Reason, she II surely rap your 
Knuckles. 

Thus the old Gentleman ended his Harangue. The 
People heard it, and approved the Doctrine, and imme- 
diately practised the contrary, just as if it had been a 
common Sermon ; for the Vendue opened, and they began 
to buy extravagantly, notwithstanding all his Cautions, 
and their own Fear of Taxes. — I found the good Man had 
thoroughly studied my Almanacks, and digested all I had 
dropt on those Topicks during the Course of Five-and- 
Twenty Years. The frequent mention he made of me 
must have tired any one else, but my Vanity was wonder- 
fully delighted with it, though I was conscious that not a 
tenth Part of this Wisdom was my own which he ascribed 
to me, but rather the Gleanings I had made of the Sense 
of all Ages and Nations. However, 1 resolved to be the 
better for the Echo of it ; and though I had at first deter- 
mined to buy Stuff for a new Coat, I went away resolved 
to wear my old one a little longer. Reader, if thou wilt do 
the same, thy Profit will be as great as mine. 
/ am, as ever. 

Thine to serve thee, 

Richard Saunders. 

Of all the Charms the Female Sex desire, 
That Lovers doat on, and that friends admire, 
Those most deserve your Wish that longest last. 
Not like the Bloom of Beauty, quickly past ; 
Virtue the Chief: This Men and Angels prize. 
Above the finest Shape and brightest Eyes, 
By this alone, untainted Joys we find, 
As large and as immortal as the Mind. 

A man in a Passion rides a mad Horse. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



213 



Reader farewel, all Happiness attend thee ; May each 
New-Year, better and richer find thee. 

HOW TO GET RICHES 

The Art of getting Riches consists very much in 
Thrift. All Men are not equally qualified for getting 
Money, but it is in the Power of every one alike to prac- 
tise this Virtue. 

He that would be beforehand in the World, must be 
beforehand with his Business : It is not only ill Manage- 
ment, but discovers a slothful Disposition, to do that in 
the Afternoon, which should have been done in the 
Morning. 

Useful Attainments in your Minority will procure 
Riches in Maturity, of which Writing and Accounts are 
not the meanest. 

Learning, whether Speculative or Practical, is, in Pop- 
ular or Mixt Governments, the Natural Source of Wealth 
and Honour. 

Declaiming against Pride, is not always a Sign of 
Humility. 

Neglect kills Injuries, Revenge increases them. 

In Converse be reserv'd, yet not morose. 

In Season grave, in Season, too, jocose. 

Shun Party- Wranglings, mix not in Debate 

With Bigots in Religion or the State. 

No Arms to Scandal or Detraction lend, 

Abhor to wound, be fervent to defend. 

Aspiring still to know, a Babbler scorn, 

But watch where Wisdom opes her golden Horn. 

Nine Men in ten are suicides. 

Doing an Injury puts you below your Enemy ; Re- 
venging one makes you but even with him ; Forgiving it 
sets you above him. 



214 FRANKLIN 

In quest of Gain be just : A Conscience clear 
Is Lucre, more than Thousands in a Year ; 
Treasure no Moth can touch, no Rust consume ; 
Safe from the Knave, the Robber, and the Tomb. 
Unrighteous Gain is the curs'd Seed of Woe, 
Predestin'd to be reap'd by them who sow ; 
A dreadful Harvest ! when th' avenging Day 
Shall like a Tempest, sweep the Unjust away. 

Most of the Learning in use, is of no great Use. 

Great Good-nature, without Prudence, is a great Mis- 
fortune. 

Fond Pride of Dress is sure an empty Curse ; 
E're Fancy you consult, consult your Purse. 

Youth is pert and positive, Age modest and doubting : 
So Ears of Corn when )'oung and light, stand bold up- 
right, but hang their Heads when weighty, full, and 

ripe. 

Some sweet Employ for leisure Minutes chuse. 
And let your very Pleasures have their Use. 
But if you read, your Books with Prudence chuse. 
Or Time mis-spent is worse than what you lose. 
Be fully ere you speak your Subject known, 
And let e'en then some Diffidence be shown. 
Keep something silent, and we think you wise, 
But when we see the Bottom, we despise. 

Serving God is doing good to Man, but praying is 
thought an easier Service, and therefore more generally 
chosen. 

Nothing humbler than Ambition, when it is about to 
climb. 

The discontented Man finds no easy Chair. 

Virtue and a Trade, are a Child's best Portion. 

Gifts much expected, are paid, not given. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



215 



MOW TO SECURE HOUSES, &C. FROM LIGHTNING 

It has pleased God in his Goodness to Mankind, at 
length to discover to them the Means of securing their 
Habitations and other Buildings from Mischief by thun- 
der and Lightning. The Method is this : Provide a small 
Iron Rod (it may be of the Rod-iron used by the Nailors) 
but of such a length, that one End being three or four 
Feet in the moist Ground, the other may be six or eight 
Feet above the highest Fart of the Building. To the 
upper end of the Rod fasten about a Foot of Brass Wire, 
the size of a common Knitting-needle, sharpened to a fine 
Point ; the Rod may be secured to the House by a few 
small Staples. If the House or Barn, be long, there may 
be a Rod and Point at each End, and a middling Wire 
along the Ridge from one to the other. A house thus fur- 
nished will not be damaged by Lightning, it being attract- 
ed by the Points, and passing thro' the Metal into the 
Ground without hurting anything. Vessels also, having 
a sharp pointed Rod fix'd on the Top of their Masts, with 
a Wire from the F'oot of the Rod reaching down, round 
one of the Shrouds, to the Water, will not be hurt by 
Lightning. 

Parsons and "Jesuits could coftfute. 

Talk Infidels and Quakers mute. 

To every Here tick a foe ; 

Was he an honest man ? So, so. 

Among the Divines there has been much Debate, 
Concerning the World in its ancient Estate ; 
Some say 'twas once good, but now is grown bad, 
Some say 'tis reform'd of the Faults it once had : 
I say 'tis the best World, this that we now live in, 
Either to lend, or to spend, or to give in ; 
But to borrow, to beg, or to get a Man's own, 
It is the worst World that ever was known. 

Here comes Glib-Tongue : who can out-flatter a Dedi- 
cation ; and lie, like ten Epitaphs. 

Hope and a Red-Rag, are Baits for Men and Mackerel. 



2i6 FRANKLIN 

With the old Almanack and the old Year, 
Leave thy old Vices, tho' ever so dear. 

Honest Men often go to Law for their Right ; when 
Wise Men would sit down with the Wrong, supposing the 
first Loss least. In some Countries, the Course of the 
Courts is so tedious, and the Expence so high, that the 
Kemedy, /ustice, is worse than Injustice, the Disease. In 
my Travels I once saw a Sign call'd The Two Men at Law ; 
One of them was painted on one Side, in a melancholy- 
Posture, all in Rags, with this Scroll, I have lost my Cause. 
The other was drawn capering for Joy, on the other Side, 
with these Words, / have gaind my Suit ; but he was 
stark naked. 

RULES OF HEALTH AND LONG LIFE, AND TO PRESERVE 
FROM MALIGNANT FEVERS, AND SICKNESS IN GENERAL 

Eat and drink such an Exact Quantity as the Consti- 
tution of thy Body allows of, in reference to the Services 
of the mind. 

They that study much, ought not to eat so much as 
those that work hard, their Digestion being not so good. 

The exact Quantity and Quality being found out, is to 
be kept to constantly. 

Excess in all other Things whatever, as well as in Meat 
and Drink, is also to be avoided. 

Youth, Age, and Sick require a different Quantity. 

And so do those of contrary Complexions ; for that 
which is too much for a flegmatick Man, is not sufficient 
for a Cholerick. 

The Measure of Food ought to be (as much as possi- 
bly may be) exactly proportionate to the Quality and Con- 
dition of the Stomach, because the Stomach digests it. 

A greater Quantity of some things may be eaten than 
of others, some being of lighter Digestion than others. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 217 

That Quantity that is sufficient, the Stomach can per- 
fectly concoct and digest, and it sufficeth the due Nour- 
ishment of the Body. 

The Difficulty lies, in finding out an exact Measure ; 
but eat for Necessity, not Pleasure, for Lust knows not 
where Necessity ends. 

Wouldst thou enjoy a long Life, a healthy Body, and 
a vigorous Mind, and be acquainted also with the wonder- 
ful works of God ? labour in the first place to bring thy 
Appetite into Subjection to Reason. 

Good women, sure, are angels on the earth : 
Of those good angels we have had a dearth ; 
And therefore all you men that have good wives. 
Respect their virtues equal with your lives. 

From a cross neighbour, and a sullen wife, 
A pointless needle, and a broken knife ; 
From suretyship, and from an empty purse, 
A smoaky chimney, and jolting horse ; 
From a dull razor, and an aking head ; 
From a bad conscience, and a buggy bed, 
A blow upon the elbow and the knee ; 
From each of these, good L — d, deliver me. 

Without justice courage is weak. 

Many dishes, many diseases. 

Many medicines, few cures. 

Where carcasses are, eagles will gather, 

And where good laws are, much people flock thither. 

Would you live with ease, do what you ought, and not 
what you please. 

Better slip with foot than tongue. 

Saying and Doing have quarrel'd and parted. 

Tell me my Faults, and mend your own. 

Well, my friend, thou art just entering the last Month 
of another year. If thou art a Man of Business, and of 



2i8 FRANKLIN 

prudent Care, belike thou wilt now settle thy accounts, to 
satisfy thyself whether thou has gain'd or lost in the Year 
past, and how much of either, the better to regulate thy 
future Industry or thy common Expenses. This is com- 
mendable — But it is not all. — Wilt thou not examine also 
thy moral Accompts, and see what improvements thou 
hast made in the Conduct of Life, what Vice subdued, 
what Virtue acquired ; how much better, and how much 
wiser, as well as how much richer thou art grown ? What 
shall it profit a Man, if he gain the whole World, but lose 
his own Soul. Without some Care in this Matter, tho' 
thou may'st come to count thy thousands, thou wilt pos- 
sibly still appear poor in the Eyes of the Discerning, even 
here, and be really so for ever hereafter. 

To-morrow you'll reform, you always cr)-; 
In what far country does this morrow lie. 
That 'tis so mighty long ere it arrive ? 
Beyond the Itidies does this morrow live ? 
'Tis so far-fetched, this morrow, that I fear 
'Twill be both very old, and very dear. 
To-morrow I'll reform, the fool does say; 
To-day itself s too late ; — the ivise did yesterday. 

Let the letter stay for the post, and not the post for 
the letter. 

If wind blows on you through a hole. 
Make your will and take care of your soul. 

The rotten apple spoils his companion. 

Mankind are very odd Creatures : One Half censure 
what they practise, the other half practise what thev cen- 
sure ; the rest alwa)'s say and do as they ought. 

Severit}' is often Clemency ; Clemency Severitv. 

To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesv, 
to inferiors nobleness. 

Here comes the orator, with his flood of words, and his 
drop of reason. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



219 



Sal laughs at everything you say. Why? Because 
she has fine teeth. 

The lying habit is in some so strong', 

To truth they know not how to bend their tongue ; 

And tho' sometimes their ends truth best would answer. 

Yet lies come uppermost, do what they can, sir. 

Mendacio delights in telling news. 

And that it may be such, himself doth use 

To make it ; but he now no longer need ; 

Let him tell truth, it will be news indeed. 

A man is never so ridiculous by those qualities that are 
his own, as by those that he affects to have. 

Of the DISEASES this year 

This year the stone-blind shall see but very little ; the 
deaf shall hear but poorly ; and the dumb sha'n't speak 
very plain. And it's much, if my Dame Bridget talks at 
all this year. Whole flocks, herds, and droves of sheep, 
swine and oxen, cocks and hens, ducks and drakes, geese 
and ganders shall go to pot ; but the mortality will not be 
altogether so great among cats, dogs and horses. As to 
old age 'twill be incurable this year, because of the years 
past. And towards the fall some people will be seiz'd 
with an unaccountable inclination to roast and eat their 
own ears: Should this be call'd madness. Doctors? I 
think not. But the worst disease of all will be a certain 
most horrid, dreadful, malignant, catching, perverse and 
odious malady, almost epidemical, insomuch that many 
shall run mad upon it; I quake for very fear when I 
think on 't ; for I assure you very few will escape this dis- 
ease ; which is called by the learned Albromazar Lacko- 
mony. 

Bis dat qui cito dat : He gives twice that gives soon. 

Pride dines upon Vanity, sups on Contempt. 

What pains our justice takes his faults to hide. 
With half that pains sure he might cure 'em quite. 



220 FRANKLIN 

Don't go to the doctor with every distemper, nor to 
the lawyer with every quarrel, nor to the pot for every 
thirst. 

Besides the astronomical Calculations, and other 
Things usually contain'd in Almanacks, which have their 
daily Use indeed while the Year continues, but then be- 
come of no Value, I have constantly interspers'd moral 
Sentences, prudent Maxims, and wise Sayings, many of them 
containing muc/i good Sense in very feiv Words, and there- 
fore apt to leave strong and lasting Impressions on the 
Memory of young Persons, whereby they may receive 
Benefit as long as they live, when both Almanack and Al- 
manack-maker have been long thrown by and forgotten. 
If I now and then insert a Joke or two, that seem to have 
little in them, my Apology is, that such may have their 
Use, since perhaps for their Sake light airy Minds peruse 
the rest, and so are struck by somewhat of more Weight 
and Moment. The Verses on the Heads of the Months 
are also design'd to have the same Tendency. I need not 
tell thee that many of them are of my own Making. If 
thou hast any Judgment in Poetry, thou wilt easily dis- 
cern the Workman from the Bungler. I know as well as 
thee, that I am no Poet born, and it is a Trade I never 
learnt, nor indeed could learn. If I make Verses 'tis in 
Spight — Of Nature and my Stars, I write. Why then 
should I give my Readers bad Lines of my own, •w\\engood 
Ones of other people are so plenty? 

Beware of him that is slow to anger. He is angry for 
something, and will not be pleased for nothing. 

What legions of fables and whimsical tales 
Pass current for gospel where priestcraft prevails ! 
Our ancestors were thus most strangely deceiv'd, 
What stories and nonsense for truth they believ'd. 
But we their wise sons, who these fables reject, 
Ev'n truth now-a-days, are too apt to suspect ; 
From believing too much, the right faith we let fall ; 
So now we believe, — 'troth, — nothing at all. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 221 

No longer virtuous, no longer free, is a maxim as true 
with regard to a private person as a commonwealth. 

Proclaim not all thou knowest, all thou owest, all thou 
hast, nor all thou can'st. 

Let our fathers and grandfathers be valued for their 
goodness, ourselves for our own. 

Industry need not wish. 

Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden, but it is for- 
bidden because it is hurtful. 

The Wise and Brave dares own that he was wrong. 

Cunning proceeds from Want of Capacity. 

HINTS TO THOSE THAT WOULD BE RICH 

The use of money is all the advantage there is in hav- 
ing money. 

For 6£ a year you may have use of ioo£, if you are a 
man of known prudence and honesty. 

He that spends a groat a-day idly, spends idly above 
6£ a year, which is the price of using loo;^. 

He that wastes idly a groat's worth of his time per day, 
one day with another, wastes the privilege of using 100^ 
each day. 

He that idly loses 5^. worth of time, loses 5^-., and might 
as prudently throw 5^-. into the river. 

He that loses 5^. not only loses that sum, but all the 
other advantage that might be made by turning it in deal- 
ing, which, by the time a young man becomes old, amounts 
to a comfortable bag of money. 

Again, He that sells upon credit, asks a price for what 
he sells equivalent to the principal and interest of his 
money for the time he is like to be kept out of it ;— there- 
fore, 



-jj FRANKLIN 

He that buvs upon credit pavs interest for what he 
buys. 

And he that pavs readv monev, might let that money 
out to use ; so that 

He that possesses anv thing he has bought, pays inter- 
est tor the use of it. 

ConsitfeT thtti, when you are tempted to buy any unne- 
cessary household stuff, or any superfluous thing, whether 
vou will be willing to pav intcrtst, and interest upon intirtst 
for it as long as vou live, and more if it grows worse by 

using. 

Yety in bnj'ing goods, 'tis best to fay ready money, hrause', 

He that sells upon credit, expects to lose 5/cr icnt by 
bad debts ; therefore he charges on all he sells upon credit, 
an advance that shall make up that dehciencv. 

Those who pav for what they buv upon credit, pav 
their share of this advance. 

He that pays ready money, escapes, or ma v escape, 
that charge. 

A />cHny sirvt'd is tztv /ev/tv c/e'or. A pin aniay is a groat 
ay tar. Sav^ and haze. 

Every little makes a mickle. 

Each age of men new fashions doth invent ; 

Things which are old. >"oung men do not esteem v 
What pleas \f our fathers, doth not us content : 
What tlourishevi then. \\-e out of fashion deem : 
And that's the reason, as I understand. 
Why Prodigiis did sell his father's land. 

Is there anything men take more pains about than to 
make themselves unhappy ? 

Nothing brings more pain than too much pleasure. 

Read much, but not too many books. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



223 



He is no clown that drives the plough, but he that 
doth clownish thingrs. 



'fc>^ 



If you know how to spend less than you get, you have 
the philosopher's-stone. 

Whymsical Will once fancy'd he was ill, 

The Doctor call'd, who thus exaniin'd Will : 

J low is your appetite? O, as to that 

I eat quite heartily, you see I'm fat; 

How is yotir sleep anights? 'Tis sound and good ; 

I eat, drink, sleep, as well as e'er I cou'd. 

Will, says the doctor, clapping on his hat. 

I'll give you something shall remove all that. 

Some have learn't many tricks of sly evasion, 

Instead of truth they use equivocation, 

And eke it out with mental reservation, 

Which, to good men, is an abomination. 

Our smith of late most wonderfully swore, 

That whilst he breathed he would drink no more, 

But since, I know his meaning, for I think, 

He meant he would not breathe whilst he did drink. 

The good pay-master is lord of another man's purse. 

If you'd have a servant that you like, serve yourself. 

He that pursues two hares at once, does not catch one 
and lets t'other go. 

He that would live in peace and at ease 

Must not speak all he knows nor judge all he sees. 

From bad Health, bad Conscience, & Parties dull Strife 

From an insolent Friend, & a termagant Wife, 

From the Kindred of such (on one Side or t'other) 

Who most wisely delight in plaguing each other ; 

From the Wretch who can cant, while he Mischief designs. 

From old rotten Mills, bank'd Meadows & Mines; 

From Curses like these if kind Heav'n defends me, 

I'll never complain of the Fortune it sends me. 

In prosperous fortunes be modest and wise. 

The greatest may fall, and the lowest may rise : 

But insolent People that fall in disgrace. 

Are wretched and no body pities their Case, 



224 FRANKLIN 

If you have time, don't wait for time. 

The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise. 

The absent are never without fault, nor the present 
without excuse. 

Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. 

Poverty wants some things, luxury many things, ava- 
rice all things. 

Great Merit is coy, as well as great Pride. 

Old Boys have their Playthings as well as young 
Ones ; the Difference is only in the Price. 

Bad commentators spoil the best of books, 
So God sends meat (they say), the devil cooks. 

The noblest question in the world is, " W/iai good can 
I do in it?'' 

Distrust and caution are the parents of security. 

Tongue double, brings trouble. 

Do not do that which you would not have known. 

Whate'er's desired, knowledge, fame, or pelf, 
Not one will change his neighbour with himself; 
The learn'd are happy nature to explore. 
The fool is happy that he knows no more. 
The rich are happy in the plenty given ; 
The poor contents him with the care of heaven. 
Thus does some comfort ev'ry state attend, 
And pride's bestowed on all, a common friend. 

Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it. 

By nought is man from beast distinguished, 
More than by knowledge in his learned head. 
Then youth improve thy time, but cautious see 
That what thou learnest somehow useful be ; 
Each day improving, Solon waxed old ; 
For time he knew was better far than gold : 
Fortune might give him gold which would decay. 
But fortune cannot give him — yesterday. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 225 

'Tis easy to see, hard to foresee. 

Nothing so popular as goodness. 

Keep flax from fire, youth from gaming. 

Bargaining has neither friends nor relations. 

Admiration is the daughter of ignorance. 

There's more old drunkards, than old doctors. 

He that can have patience can have what he will. 

He that buys by the penny maintains not only himself, 
but other people. 

A false Friend and a Shadow attend only while the 
Sun shines. 

To-morrow every Fault is to be amended ; but that 
To-morrow never comes. 

It is observable that God has often called Men to 
Places of Dignity and Honour, when they have been 
busy in the honest Employment of their Vocation. Saul 
was seeking his Father's Asses, and David keeping his 
Father's Sheep, when called to the kingdom. The Shep- 
herds were feeding their Flocks, when they had their 
glorious Revelation. God called the four Apostles from 
their Fishery, and Matthew from the Receipt of Custom ; 
Amos from among the Horsemen of Tekoak, Moses from 
keeping yi?//zrt7'j Sheep, Gideon from the Threshing Floor, 
etc. God never encourages Idleness, and despises not 
Persons in the meanest Employments. 

Men often mistake themselves, seldom forget them- 
selves. 

The idle Man is the Devil's Hireling, whose Livery is 
Rags, whose Diet and Wages are Famine and Diseases. 

I never saw an oft-transplanted tree, 
Nor yet an oft-removed family, 
That throve so well as those that settled be. 
15 



226 FRANKLIN 

Don't misinform your doctor nor your lawyer. 

It is generally agreed to be Folly, to hazard the loss 
of a Friend, rather than to lose a Jest. But few consider 
how easily a Friend may be thus lost. Depending on 
the known Regard their Friends have for them. Jesters 
take more Freedom with Friends than they would dare 
to do with others, little thinking how much deeper we 
are wounded by an Affront from one we love. But the 
strictest Intimacy can never warrant Freedoms of this 
Sort ; and it is indeed preposterous to think they should ; 
unless we can suppose Injuries are less Evils when they 
are done to us by Friends, than when they come from 
other Hands. 

Grace thou thy house, and let not that grace thee. 

Thou cans't not joke an enemy into a friend, but thou 
may'st a friend into an enemy. 

Can Wealth give Happiness ? look round and see ? 
What gay Distress ! What splendid Misery ! 
Whatever Fortune lavishly can pour 
The Mind annihilates, and calls for more. 

A decent Competence we fully taste ; 
It strikes our Seiise, and gives a constant Feast : 
More, we perceive by Dint of Thought alone ; 
The Rich must labour to possess their own. 

The Proud hate Pride— in others. 
Who judges best of a Man, his Enemies or himself? 
Drunkenness, that worst of Evils, makes some men 
Fools, some Beasts, some Devils. 

'Tis not a Holiday that's not kept holy. 

Life with fools consists in drinking ; 
With the wise man, living's thinking. 

Be not niggardly of what costs thee nothing, as cour- 
tesy, counsel, and countenance. 
Thirst after desert— not reward. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 22/ 

Of the CONDITION of some countries 

I FORESEE an universal drought this year thro' all the 
northern colonies. Hence there will be dry rice in Caro- 
lina, dry tobacco in Virginia and Maryland, dry bread in 
Pennsylvania and New York ; and in New England dry fish 
and dry doctrine. Dry throats will be every where ; but 
then how pleasant it will be to drink cool cyder ! tho' 
some will tell you nothing is more contrary to thirst. — 
I believe it, and indeed, contraria contrariis curantur. 

Make haste slowly. 

Besides the usual things expected in an almanack, I 
hope the profess'd teachers of mankind will excuse my 
scattering here and there some instructive hints in matters 
of morality and religion. — And be not thou disturbed, O 
grave and sober reader, if among the many serious sen- 
tences of my book, thou findest me trifling now and then 
and talking idly. — In all the dishes I have hitherto cooked 
for thee, there is solid meat enough for thy money. There 
are scraps from the table of wisdom, that will if well 
digested yield strong nourishment to thy mind. But 
squeamish stomachs cannot eat without pickles ; which 
'tis true are good for nothing else, but they provoke an 
appetite. The vain youth that reads my almanack for the 
sake of an idle joke, will perhaps meet with a serious re- 
flection, that he may ever after be the better for. 

Honour thy father and mother — i. e.. Live so as to be 
an honour to them, though they are dead. 

If thou injurest conscience, it will have its revenge on 
thee. 

Hear no ill of a friend, nor speak any of an enemy. 

If what most men admire, they would despise, 
'Twould look as if mankind were growing wise. 

The sun never repents of the good he does, nor does 
he ever demand a recompence. 



228 FRANKLIN 

An old young man will be a young old man. 

Are you angry that others disappoint you ? remember 
you cannot depend upon yourself. 

'Tis not the face with a delightful air, 
A rosy cheek, and lovely flowing hair ; 
Nor sparkling eyes to best advantage set, 
Nor all the members rang'd in alphabet, 
Sweet in proportion as the lovely dies. 
Which brings th' etherial bow before our eyes. 
That can with wisdom approbation find. 
Like pious morals and an honest mind. 
By virtue's living laws from every vice refin'd. 

One mend-fault is worth two find-faults, but one find- 
fault is better than two make-faults. 

Reader, I wish thee health, wealth, happiness, and may 
kind heaven thy year's industry bless. 

You may be more happy than princes, if you will be 
more virtuous. 

If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead 
and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things 
worth the writing. 

Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor liberty to pur- 
chase power. 

The way to be safe, is never to be secure. 

Work as if you were to live lOO years. Pray as if you 
were to die To-morrow. 

Nature expects mankind should share 
The duties of the publick care. 

Sarcastical Jests on a Man's Person or his Manners, 
tho' hard to bear, are perhaps more easily borne than 
those that touch his Religion. Men are generally warm in 
what regards their religious Tenets, either from a Tender- 
ness of Conscience, or a high Sense of their own Judge- 
ments. People of plain Parts and honest Dispositions, 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



229 



look on Salvation as too serious a Thing to be jested with ; 
and Men of speculative Religion, who profess from the 
Conviction rather of their Heads than Hearts, are not a 
bit less vehement than the real Devotees. He who says 
a slight or a severe Thing of their Faith, seems to them to 
have thereby undervalued their Understanding, and will 
consequently incur their Aversion, which no Man of com- 
mon Sense would hazard, for a lively Expression ; much 
less a person of good Breeding, who should make it his 
chief Aim to be well with all. 

Great Alms giving, lessen no Man's living. 

ON THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS 

While free from Force the Press remains. 
Virtue and Freedom chear our Plains, 
And Learning Largesses bestows, 
And keeps unlicens'd open House. 
We to the Nation's publick Mart 
Our Works of Wit, and Schemes of Art, 
And philosophic Goods, this Way, 
Like Water carriage, cheap convey. 
This Tree which Knowledge so affords, 
Inquisitors with flaming Swords 
From Lay-Approach with Zeal defend. 
Lest their own Paradise should end. 

A long Life may not be good enough, but a good Life 
is long enough. 

Be at War with your Vices, at Peace with your Neigh- 
bours, and let every New- Year find you a better Man. 

Don't after foreign Food and Clothing roam. 
But learn to eat and wear what's rais'd at Home. 
Kind Nature suits each Clime with what it wants. 
Sufficient to subsist th' Inhabitants. 

He that won't be counselled can't be helped. 

'Tis a Shame that your Family is an Honour to you ! 
You ought to be an Honour to your Family. 



230 FRANKLIN 

Write injuries in dust, benefits in marble. 

Glass, China, and Reputation, are easily crack'd, and 
never well mended. 

That nothing is from ruin free, 
The gayest things must disappear. 
Think of your beauties in their bloom, 
The spring of sprightly youth improve ; 
For cruel age, alas, will come. 
And then 'twill be too late to love. 

He that falls in love with himself, will have no rivals. 

Let thy child's first lesson be obedience, and the sec- 
ond will be what thou wilt. 

Blessed is he that expects nothing, for he shall never 
be disappointed. 

Rather go to bed supperless than run in debt for a 
breakfast. 

When you are sick, what you like best is to be chosen 
for a medicine in the first place ; what experience tells you 
is best, to be chosen in the second place ; what reason (i. e. 
Theory,) says is best, is to be chosen in the last place. 
But if you can get Dr. Inclination, Dr. Experience, and Dr. 
Reason to hold a consultation together, they will give you 
the best advice that can be taken. 

God heals and the doctor takes the fee. 

If you desire many things, many things will seem but 
a few. 

Forewarned, forearmed. 

I saw few die of hunger, of eating — 100,000. 

With bounteous cheer 
Conclude the Year. 

If thou would'st live long, live well ; for folly and wick- 
edness shorten life. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 23 1 

Trust thyself, and another shall not betray thee. 

Historians relate, not so much what is done, as what 
they would have believed. 

No resolution of repenting hereafter can be sincere. 

Pollio, who values nothing that's within, 

Buys books as men hunt beavers — for their skin. 

Briscap, thou'st little judgement in thy head 
More than to dress thee, drink and go to bed ; 
Yet thou shalt have the wall and the way lead, 
Since logick wills that simple things preceed. 
Walking and meeting one not long ago, 
I ask'd who 'twas, he said, he did not know, 
I said, I know thee ; so said he, I you ; 
But he that knows himself I never knew. 

None preaches better than the ant, and she says 
nothing. 

He that speaks much, is much mistaken. 

Great beauty, great strength, and great riches are 
really and truly of no great use ; a right heart exceeds all. 

A Man has no more Goods than he gets Good by. 

Welcome, Mischief, if thou comest alone. 

Different Sects like different clocks, may be all near 
the matter, 'tho they don't quite agree. 

Honour the softer Sex ; with courteous Style, 
And Gentleness of Manners, win their Smile ; 
Nor shun their virtuous Converse ; but when Age 
And Circumstance consent, thy Faith engage 
To some discreet, well-natur'd, cheerful Fair, 
One not too stately for the Household Care, 
One form'd in Person and in Mind to please. 
To season Life, and all its Labours ease. 

If your head is wax, don't walk in the Sun. 

Pretty and Witty will wound if they hit ye. 



232 



FRANKLIN 



Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of 

it, is. 

Gaming, the Vice of Knaves and Fools, detest, 
Miner of Time, of Substance and of Rest ; 
Which, in the Winning or the Losing Part, 
Undoing or undone, will wring the Heart : 
Undone, self-curs'd, thy Madness thou wilt rue ; 
Undoing, Curse of others will pursue 
Thy hated Head. A Parent's, Household's Tear, 
A Neighbour's Groan, and Heavns displeasure fear. 

'Tis a laudable Ambition, that aims at being better 
than his Neighbours. 

The wise Man draws more Advantage from his Ene- 
mies, than the Fool from his Friends. 

Proportion your Charity to the strength of your Estate, 
or God will Proportion your Estate to the Weakness of 
your Charity. 

Some antient Philosophers have said, that Happiness 
depends more on the inward Disposition of Mind than 
on outward Circumstances ; and that he who can.iot be 
happy in any State, can be so in no State. To be happy, 
they tell us we must be content. Right. But they do 
not teach us how we may become content. Poor Richard 
shall give you a short good Rule for that. To be content 
look backward on those who possess less than yourself, 
not forward on those who possess more. If this does not 
make j^ou content, you don't deserve to be happy. 

In Christmas feasting pray take care ; 
Let not your table be a Snare ; 
But with the Poor God's Bounty share. 
Adieu, my Friends, till the next year. 

All would live long, but none would be old. 

Ill Customs & bad Advice are seldom forgotten. 

He that sows thorns, should not go barefoot. 

Eat few suppers and you'll need few medicines. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



233 



RULES TO FIND OUT A FIT MEASURE OF MEAT AND 

DRINK 

If thou eatest so much as makes thee imfit for Study, 
or other Business, thou exceedest the due Measure. 

If thou art dull and heavy after Meat, it's a sign thou 
hast exceeded the due Measure ; for Meat and Drink 
ought to refresh the Body, and make it chearful, and 
not to dull and oppress it. 

If thou findest these ill Symptoms, consider whether 
too much Meat, or too much Drink occasions it, or both, 
and abate by little and little, till thou findest the incon- 
veniency removed. 

Keep out of the Sight of Feasts and Banquets as much 
as may be ; for 't is more difficult to refrain good Cheer, 
when it's present, than from the Desire of it when it is 
away ; the like you may observe in the Objects of all the 
other Senses. 

If a Man casually exceeds, let him fast the next Meal, 
and all may be well again, provided it be not too often 
done ; as if he exceed at Dinner, let him refrain a Sup- 
per, &c. 

A temperate Diet frees from Diseases ; such are sel- 
dom ill, but if they are surprised with Sickness, they bear 
it better, and recover sooner ; for most Distempers have 
their Original from Repletion. 

Use now and then a little Exercise a quarter of an 
Hour before Meals, as to swing a Weight, or swing your 
Arms about with a small Weight in each Hand ; to leap, 
or the like, for that stirs the Muscles of the Breast. 

A temperate Diet arms the Body against all external 
Accidents ; so that they are not so easily [hurt] by Heat, 
Cold or Labour ; if they at any time should be preju- 
diced, they are more easily cured, either of Wounds, Dis- 
locations or Bruises. 

But when malignant Fevers are rife in the Country or 
City where thou dwelst, 'tis adviseable to eat and drink 



234 



FRANKLIN 



more freely, by Way of Prevention ; for those are Dis- 
eases that are not caused by Repletion, and seldom at- 
tack Full-feeders. 

A sober Diet makes a Man die without Pain ; it main- 
tains the Senses in Vigour; it mitigates the Violence of 
the Passions and Affections. 

It preserves the Memory, it helps the Understanding, 
it allays the heat of Lust ; it brings a Man to a Considera- 
tion of his latter End ; it makes the Body a fit Tabernacle 
for the Lord to dwell in ; which makes us happy in this 
World, and eternally happy in the World to come, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. 

Empty Freebooters, cover'd with scorn, 

They went out for Health, & came ragged and torn, 

As the Ram went for Wool, and was sent back shorn. 

He that speaks ill of the mare will buy her. 

Wouldst thou confound thine Enemy, be good thy self. 

Pride is as loud a Beggar as Want, and a great deal 
more saucy. 

Pay what you owe, and what you're worth you'll 
know. 

Act uprightly, and despise calumny : dirt may stick 
to a mud wall, but not to polished marble. 

The busy Man has few idle Visitors ; to the boiling 
Pot the Flies come not. 

Calamity and Prosperity are the Touchstones of In- 
tegrity. 

What signifies knowing the Names, if you know not 
the Natures of Things. 

The Golden Age never was the present Age. 

The Good-will of the Govern'd will be starved, if not 
fed by the good Deeds of the Governors. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 235 

Paintings and Fightings are best seen at a distance. 

He that doth what he should not, shall feel what he 
would not. 

To be intimate with a foolish Friend, is like going to 
Bed to a Razor. 

To serve the Publick faithfully, and at the same time 
please it entirely is impracticable. 

Proud Modern Learning despises the antient: School- 
men are now laught at by school-boys. 

An open foe may prove a curse ; 
But a pretended friend is worse. 

A Wolf eats sheep but now and then, 
Ten Thousands are devour'd by men. 

Prodigality of Time produces Poverty of Mind as well 
as of Estate. 

They who have nothing to trouble them, will be 
troubled at nothing. 

That sort of IVtf, which employs itself insolently in 
Criticizing and Censuring the Words and Sentiments of 
others in Conversation, is absolute Folly ; for it answers 
none of the Ends of Conversation. He who uses it neither 
improves others, is unproved himself, or pleases any one. 

Be civil to all ; sociable to many ; familiar with few ; 
friend to one ; enemy to none. 

Vain-glory flowereth, but beareth no Fruit. 

HOW TO MAKE MONEY PLENTY 

As I spent some Weeks last Winter, in visiting my old 
Acquaintance in \\vq Jerseys, great Complaints I heard for 
Want of money, and that leave to make more Paper Bills 
could not be obtained. Friends and Countrymen, my Ad- 
vice on this Head shall cost you nothing, and if you will 



236 FRANKLIN 

not be angry with me for giving it, I promise you not to 
be offended if you do not take it. 

You spend yearly at least two hundred thousand pounds, 
it is said, in European, East-Indian and West-Indian com- 
modities. Supposing one half of this expense to be in 
things absolutely necessary, the other half may be called 
superfluities, or, at best, conveniences, which, however, 
you might live without for one little year, and not suffer 
exceedingly. Now to save this half, observe these few 
directions : 

1. When you incline to have new clothes, look first 
well over the old ones, and see if you cannot shift with 
them another year, either by scouring, mending, or even 
patching if necessary. Remember, a patch on your coat, 
and money in your pocket, is better and more creditable, 
than a writ on your back, and no money to take it off. 

2. When you incline to buy China ware, Chinees, India 
silks, or any other of their flimsy, slight manufactures, I 
would not be so hard with you, as to insist on your abso- 
lutely resolving against it ; all I advise is, to put it off (as 
you do your repentance) till another year, and this, in some 
respects, may prevent an occasion for repentance. 

3. If you are now a drinker of punch, wine or tea, 
twice a day, for the ensuing year drink them but once a 
day. If you now drink them but once a day, do it but 
every other day. If ,you now do it but once a week, re- 
duce the practice to once a fortnight. And, if you do 
not exceed in quantity as you lessen the times, half your 
expense in these articles will be saved. 

4. When you incline to drink rum, fill the glass half 
with water. 

Thus at the year's end, there will be a hindred thou- 
sand pounds more money in your country. 

If paper money in ever so great a quantity could be 
made, no man could get any of it without giving some- 
thing for it. But all he saves in this way, will be his own 
for nothing, and his country actually so much richer. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



237 



Then the merchant's old and doubtful debts may be hon- 
estly paid off, and trading become surer thereafter, if not 
so extensive. 

Observe the daily circle of the sun, 
And the short year of each revolving moon : 
By them thou shall foresee the following day, 
Nor shall a starry night thy hopes betray. 
When first the moon appears, if then she shrouds 
Her silver crescent, tip'd with sable clouds, 
Conclude she bodes a tempest on the main, 
And brews for fields impetuous Hoods of rain. 

Let thy vices die before thee. 

The ancients tell us what is best : but we must learn 
of the moderns what is fittest. 

Here lies the only difference now. 

Some shot off late, some soon ; 
Your sires i' th' morning left the plough, 

And ours i' th' afternoon. 

Cassar did not merit the triumphal car more than he 
that conquers himself. 

Hast thou virtue ? — acquire also the graces and beau- 
ties of virtue. 

If thou hast wit and learning, add to it wisdom and 
modesty. 

The favour of the great is no inheritance. 

Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure 

Can grave and formal pass for wise 
When men the solemn owl despise ? 

Some are justly laught at for keeping their money 
foolishly, others for spending it idly : He is the greatest 
fool that lays it out in a purchase of repentance. 

Let thy discontents be thy secrets ; — if the world knows 
them 't will despise thee and increase them. 



238 FRANKLIN 

E'er you remark another's sin, 

Bid your own conscience look within. 

Anger and folly walk cheek by jole ; repentance treads 
on both their heels. 

They who have nothing to be troubled at will be 
troubled at nothing. 

If evils come not, then our fears are vain, 
And if they do, fear but augments the pain. 

Studious of Ease, and fond of humble Things, 
Below the Smiles, below the Frowns of Kings : 
Thanks to my Stars, I prize the Sweets of Life, 
No sleepless Nights I count, no Days of Strife. 
I rest, I wake, I drink, I sometimes love, 
I read, I write, I settle, or I rove ; 
Content to live, content to die unknown, 
Lord of myself, accountable to none. 

You will be careful, if you are wise ; How you touch 
men's Religion, or Credit, or Eyes. 

The master-piece of man, is to live to the purpose. 

Nor is a duty beneficial because it is commanded, but 
it is commanded because it is beneficial. 

A . . . they say has wit ; for what ? 
For writing ? No, — for writing not. 

In travel, pilgrims oft do ask to know 

What miles they've gone, and what they have to go ; 

The way is tedious, and their limbs opprest. 

And their desire is to be at rest. 

In life's more tedious journey, man delays 

T' enquire out the number of his days : 

He cares, not he, how slow his hours spend, 

The journey's better than the journey's end. 

O Lazy bones ! Dost thou think God would have given 
thee arms and legs, if he had not design'd thou should'st 
use them ? 1 

The Honey is sweet, but the Bee has a Sting. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 239 

The nearest way to come at glory, is to do that for 
conscience which we do for glory. 

The family of fools is ancient. 

Necessity never made a good bargain. 

ON THE LAW 

Nigh neighbour to the squire, poor Sam complain'd 
Of frequent wrongs, but no amends he gain'd. 
Each day his gates thrown down ; his fences broke, 
And injur'd still the more, the more he spol<e ; 
At last, resolv'd his potent foe to awe, 
A suit against him he began in law ; 
Nine happy terms thro' all the forms he run, 
Obtain'd his cause — had costs — and was undo7te. 

If pride leads the van, beggary brings up the rear. 

Weighty questions ask for deliberate answers. 

Well done is better than well said. 

He that can travel well a-foot, keeps a good horse. 

No better relation than a prudent and faithful friend. 

COURTS 

Two trav'ling Beggars, (I've forgot their name) 
An Oister found to which they both laid Claim. 
Warm the Dispute ! At length to Law they'd go, 
As richer Fools for Trifles often do. 
The Cause two Petty foggers undertake, 
Resolving right or wrong some Gain to make. 
They jangle till the Court this Judgment gave. 
Determining what every one should have. 

Blind Plaintiff', latne Defendant, share 

The friendly Law's impartial Care : 

A Shell for him, a Shell for thee ; 

The Middle's Bench and Lawyer's Fee. 

Of learned fools I have seen ten times ten ; of unlearned 
wise men, I have seen a hundred. 

Pain wastes the body, pleasures the understanding. 



240 



FRANKLIN 



The thrifty maxim of the wary Dutch, is to save all the 
money they can touch. 

It is better to take many injuries than to give one. 

He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner. 

The excellency of hogs is — fatness, of men — virtue. 

Good wives and good plantations are made by good 
husbands. 

He that sells upon trust, loses many friends, and always 
wants money. 

He that scatters thorns, let him not go barefoot. 

There's none deceived but he that trusts. 

Creditors have better memories than debtors. 

A little house well fill'd, a little field well till'd, and a 
little wife well will'd, are great riches. 

Some are weatherwise, some are otherwise. 

Industry, Perseverance, & Frugality, make Fortune 

yield. 

Irus tho' wanting Gold and Lands, 
Lives chearful, easy, and content ; 
Corons, unbless'd, with twenty Hands 
Employ'd to count his yearly Rent. 
Sages in Wisdonr\ ! tell me which 
Of these you think possesses more ! 
One with his Poverty is rich. 
And one with all his Wealth is poor. 

I'll warrant ye, goes before Rashness; VVho'd-a-tho't 
comes sneaking after. 

Prayers and Provender hinder no Journey. 

Don't throw stones at your neighbors', if your own 
windows are glass. 

Meanness is the Parent of Insolence. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 24I 

'Tis more noble to forgive, and more manly to despise, 
than to revenge an Injury. 

A Brother may not be a Friend, but a Friend will 
always be a Brother. 

Necessity has no law ; I know some attorneys of the 
same. 

As sore places meet most rubs, proud folks meet most 

affronts. 

This World's an Inn, all Travellers are we ; 
And this World's Goods th' Accommodations be. 
Our Life is nothing but a Winter's Day ; 
Some only break their Fast, and so away. 
Others stay Dinner, and depart full fed. 
The deepest Age but sups and goes to bed. 
He's most in Debt that lingers out the Day ! 
Who dies betimes has less and less to pay. 

Epitaph on a Scolding Wife by her Husband. Here 
my poor Bridget's Corpse doth lie, she is at rest, — and so 
am I. 

If you would have guests merry with cheer, be so 
yourself, or so at least appear. 

Approve not of him who commends all you say. 

Look before, or you'll find yourself behind. 

To whom thy secret thou dost tell. 
To him thy freedom thou dost sell. 

He that can compose himself, is wiser than he that 
composes books. 

After crosses and losses, men grow humbler and wiser. 

Love, cough, and a smoke can't well be hid. 

Wink at small faults — remember thou hast great ones. 

Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others. 

Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices. 
16 



242 FRANKLIN 

Time is an herb that cures all diseases. 

Reading makes a full man, meditation a profound man, 
discourse a clear man. 

Each year one vicious habit rooted out, 

In time might make the worst man good throughout. 

None but the well-bred man knows how to confess a 
fault, or acknowledge himself in an error. 

Visits should be short, like a winter's day. 
Lest you're too troublesome, hasten away. 

A house without woman and firelight, is like a body 
without soul or sprite. 

Men and melons are hard to know. 

He's the best physician that knows the worthlessness 
of the most medicines. 

Who has deceived thee so oft as thyself? 

God works wonders now and then ; 
Behold ! a lawyer, an honest man. 

Innocence is its own defence. 

Since I cannot govern my own tongue tho' within my 
own teeth, how can I hope to govern the tongues of 
others ? 

There have been as great souls unknown to fame as 
an}^ of the most famous. 

He that is rich need not live sparingly, and he that can 
live sparingly need not be rich. 

The poor have little, beggars none ; the rich too much, 
enough, not one. 

Eat to live, and not live to eat. 

Happy's the wooing that's not long a doing. 

Jack Little sow'd little, and little he'll reap. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 243 

The too obliging Temper is evermore disobliging 
itself. 

To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals. 

Great talkers, little doers. 

Snowy winter, a plentiful harvest. 

Nothing more like a fool, than a drunken man. 

He is ill clothed that is bare of virtue. 

She that will eat her breakfast in her bed, 
And spend the morn in dressing of her head, 
And sit at dinner like a maiden bride, 
And talk of nothing all day but of pride ; 
God in his mercy may do much to save her. 
But what a case is he in that shall have her. 

Cheese and salt meat 
Should be sparingly eat. 

Avarice and happiness never saw each other, how then 
should they become acquainted. 

By Mrs. Bridget Saunders, my Duchess, in answer to the December verses of 

last year 

He that for the sake of drink neglects his trade, 

And spends each night in taverns till 'tis late. 

And rises when the sun is four hours high. 

And ne'er regards his starving family, 

God in his mercy may do much to save him, 

But, woe to the poor wife, whose lot it is to have him. 

Nothing but money 
Is sweeter than honey. 

The Brave and the Wise can both pity and excuse 
when Cowards and Fools show no mercy. 

Ceremony is not Civility ; nor Civility Ceremony. 

If man could have half his Wishes, he would double 
his Troubles. 

In success be moderate. 



244 FRANKLIN 

What one relishes, nourishes. 

No man e'er was glorious, who was not laborious. 

Blame all and praise all are two blockheads. 

A good man is seldom uneasy, an ill one never easie. 

Take this remark from Richard, poor and lame, 
Whate'er's begun in anger, ends in shame. 

Teach your child to hold his tongue, he'll learn fast 
enough to speak. 

Don't value a man for the quality he is of, but for the 
qualities he possesses. 

All things are easy to industry. 
All things difficult to sloth. 

A new truth is a truth, an old error is an error, 
Tho' Clodpate won't allow either. 

Don't think to hunt two hares with one dog. 

Fools multiply folly. 

Beauty and folly are old companions. 

Hope of gain lessens pain. 

An innocent ploughman is more worthy than a vicious 
prince. 

Some (taug-ht by industn') impart 
With hands and feet the works of art ; 
While some, of genius more refined. 
With heads and tongues assist mankind ; 
Each aiming at one common end 
Proves to the whole a needful friend. 
Thus, born each other's useful aid. 
By turns are obligations paid. 

Up, sluggard, and waste not life ; in the grave will be 
sleeping enough. 

Well done, is twice done. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



245 



Strive to be the greatest Man in your Country, and 
you may be disappointed ; Strive to be the best and you 
may succeed : He may well win the race that runs by 
himself. 

The first Mistake in public Business, is the going 
into it. 

Half the Truth is often a great Lie. 

The Way to see by Faith is to shut the Eye of Reason. 

The Morning Daylight appears plainer when you put 
out your Candle. 

The Prodigal generally does more Injustice than the 
Covetous. 

Generous Minds are all of kin. 

An honest Man will receive neither Money nor Praise 
that is not his due. 

Spare and have is better than spend and crave. 

Good-Will, like the Wind, fioweth where it listeth. 

A Person threatning to go to Law, was dissuaded 
from it by his Friend, who desired him to consider, for the 
Law was chargeable. I don't care, reply 'd the other, I 
will not consider, Fll go to Law. Right, said his Friend, 
for if you go to law, I am sure you don't consider. 

What's beauty? — Call ye that your own, 
A flow'r that fades as soon as blown ! 
Those eyes of so divine a ray, 
What are they? Mould'ring, mortal clay, 
Those features cast in heav'nly mould, 
Shall, like my coarser earth, grow old ; 
Like common grass, the fairest flow'r 
Must feel the hoary season's power. 

Fear to do ill, and you need fear nought else. 

Many Foxes grow grey, but few grow good. 



246 FRANKLIN 

If you would keep your secret from an enemy, tell it 
not to a friend. 

All Mankind are beholden to him that is kind to the 

Good. 

Seek virtue, and of that possessed, 
To Providence resign the rest. 

Presumption first blinds a Man, then sets him a run- 
ning. 

The end of Passion is the beginning of Repentance. 

Words may show a man's Wit, but Actions his 
Meaning. 

Enjoy the present hour, be mindful of the past ; 
And neither fear nor wish the approaches of the last. 

Learn of the skilful : He that teaches himself, hath a 
fool for his master. 

Fair decency, celestial maid. 
Descend from Heav'n to beauty's aid : 
Tho' beauty may beget desire, 
'Tis thou must fan the lover's fire : 
For beauty, like supreme dominion. 
Is but supported by opinion : 
If decency bring no supplies. 
Opinion falls and beauty dies. 

Don't overload gratitude ; if you do, she'll kick. 

Be always ashamed to catch thyself idle. 

You may talk too much on the best of subjects. 

A Man without ceremony has need of great merit in 
its place. 

No gains without pains. 

A Father's a Treasure ; a Brother's a Comfort ; a Friend 
is both. 

Despair ruins some, Presumption many. 



SAYINGS OF POOR RICHARD 



247 



None know the unfortunate, and the fortunate do not 
know themselves. 

When the well's dry, we know the worth of water. 

There is no Man so bad but he secretly respects the 
Good. 

A quiet Conscience sleeps in Thunder, 
But Rest and Guilt live far asunder. 

'Tis a strange Forest that has no rotten Wood in't. 
And a strange Kindred that are all good in't. 

Content is the Philosopher's Stone, that turns all it 
touches into Gold. 

He that's content hath enouerh. 

He that complains hath too much. 

Pride gets into the Coach, and Shame mounts behind. 

Who knows a fool, must know his brother ; 
For one will recommend another. 

Avoid dishonest gain : no price 
Can recompense the pangs of vice. 

When befriended, remember it: 
When you befriend, — forget it. 

Great souls with generous pity melt ; 
Which coward tyrants never felt. 

Silence is not always a Sign of Wisdom, but Babbling 
is ever a Folly. 

Great Modesty often hides great Merit. 

You may delay, but Time will not. 

Adieu, my Task's ended. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 
iPhotogravure from a paintmg by John Martin. 



.nh-wM ^ii'uahq s xnofi 3ii/vfii§oJorf*I 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 

EXTRACTS FROM FRANKLIN'S EARLY JOURNAL OF 

OCCURRENCES IN A VOYAGE FROM 

LONDON TO PHILADELPHIA* 



Friday, July 22d, 1726. 

YESTERDAY in the afternoon we left London, and 
came to an anchor off Gravesend about 1 1 at night. 
I lay ashore all night, and this morning took a walk 
up to Wind Mill Hill, whence I had an agreeable pros- 
pect of the country for about twenty miles round, and two 
or three reaches of the river with ships and boats sailing 
both up and down, and Tilbury Fort on the other side, 
which commands the river and passage to London. This 
Gravesend is a cursed biting place ; the chief dependence of 
the people being the advantage they make of imposing 
upon strangers. If you buy anything of them, and give 
half what they ask, you pay twice as much as the thing is 
worth. Thank God we leave it to-morrow, 

Sunday, July 24. 

This morning we weighed anchor, and, coming to the 
Downs, we set our pilot ashore at Deal and passed through. 
And now, whilst I write this, sitting up on the quarter- 

• The following letters and articles from the pen of Franklin speak so 
well for themselves as to require little introduction or explanation. The 
connecting notes are in part the Editor's, while the biographical mate- 
rial is taken from William Temple Franklin's edition of his grandfather's 
works, published in 1S18. — A. R. S. 

249 



250 FRANKLIN 

deck, I have, methinks, one of the pleasantest scenes in 
the world before me. 'Tis a fine clear day, and we are 
going away before the wind with an easy pleasant gale. 
We have near fifteen sail of ships in sight, and I may say 
in company. On the left hand appears the coast of France 
at a distance, and on the right is the town and castle of 
Dover, with the green hills and the chalky cliffs of Eng- 
land, to which we must now bid farewell. Albion, fare- 
well ! 

Thursday, August 25th. 

Man is a sociable being, and it is for aught I know one 
of the worst of punishments to be excluded from society. 
I have read abundance of fine things on the subject of 
solitude, and I know 'tis a common boast in the mouths 
of those that affect to be thought wise, tJiat they arc never 
less alone than when alone. I acknowledge solitude an 
agreeable refreshment to a busy mind; but were these 
thinking people obliged to be always alone, I am apt to 
think they would quickly find their very being unsupport- 
able to them. I have heard of a gentleman who under- 
went seven years' close confinement in the Bastile at 
Paris. He was a man of sense, he was a thinking man ; 
but being deprived of all conversation, to what purpose 
should he think ? for he was denied even the instruments 
of expressing his thoughts in writing. There is no bur- 
den so grievous to man as time that he knows not how to 
dispose of. He was forced at last to have recourse to this 
invention : he daily scattered pieces of paper about the 
fioor of his little room, and then employed himself in pick- 
ing them up and sticking them in rows and figures on the 
arm of his elbow-chair ; and he used to tell his friends, 
after his release, that he verily believed if he had not 
taken this method, he should have lost his senses. One 
of the philosophers. I think it was Plato, used to sa}', that 
he had rather be the veriest stupid block in nature, than 
the possessor of all knowledge, without some intelligent 
being to communicate it to. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



2^1 



What I have said may in a measure account for some 
particulars in my present way of living here on board. 
Our company is in general very unsuitably mixed, to keep 
up the pleasure and spirit of conversation : and if there 
are one or two pair of us that can sometimes entertain one 
another for half an hour agreeably, yet perhaps we are 
seldom in the humor for it together, I rise in the morn- 
ing and read for an hour or two perhaps, and then read- 
ing grows tiresome. Want of exercise occasions want of 
appetite, so that eating and drinking affords but little 
pleasure. I tire myself with playing at drafts, then I go to 
cards ; nay, there is no play so trifling or childish, but we 
fly to it for entertainment. A contrary wind, I know not 
how, puts us all out of good humor ; we grow sullen, 
silent and reserved, and fret at each other upon every 
little occasion. 'Tis a common opinion among the ladies, 
that if a man is ill-natured, he infallibly discovers it when 
he is in liquor. But I, who have known many instances 
to the contrary, will teach them a more effectual method 
to discover the natural temper and disposition of their 
humble servants. Let the ladies make one long sea voy- 
age with them, and if they have the least spark of ill nature 
in them, and conceal it to the end of the voyage, I will 
forfeit all my pretensions to their favor. 

Friday, Sept. 2. 

This morning the wind changed ; a little fair. We 
caught a couple of dolphins, and fried them for dinner. 
They tasted tolerably well. These fish make a glorious 
appearance in the water ; their bodies are of a bright 
green, mixed with a silver color, and their tails of a shin- 
ing golden yellow ; but all this vanishes presently after 
they are taken out of their element, and they change all 
over to a light grey. I observed that cutting off pieces 
of a just-caught living dolphin for baits, those pieces did 
not lose their lustre and fine colors, when the dolphin 
died, but retained them perfectly. Every one takes notice 
of that vulgar error of the painters, who always represent 



^-j FKANKUX 

this fish monstrousily crookcvl and deformed, when it is in 
refill V as bcaulitul and well-shxijHxl a tish as any that 
swims, I cannot think what could be the oris:final ot this 
chimei-a vM theirs ^^since thert is not a creature in natun? 
that in the least i>^sembles their dolphin) unless it pro- 
ce<\ievl at fij^l tiv>m a false imitation ot a fish in the pos- 
turf ot leapiui::, which they have since improvevi into a 
crvv^kxxi mvMister with a head and eye^s like a bull, a hog's 
snv»ut, and a tail like a blown tulip. 

Friday, Sept, ^^jsl 

This raomiui: wespievi a sail to windward of us about 
two leajiues. We shewxxl v">ur jack uix>n the ensigiv^taff, 
and shonenovi sail tor them liii aK>ut noon, when she 
came up with us. She was the Sm>w, from Dublin, bound 
tv> New Yv>rk. having upwards of fifty servants on boarvi. 
o: bv>th sexT^s ; they all appearxvi upon deck, and seeiiied 
very much pleased at the sight of us. There is really 
something strai^gely cheering to the spirits in the meeting 
of a ship at sea. oontaining a society of crxraturt;^ of the 
same siNvies .\nvi in the same circumstances with ourselves; 
atter we had been loiig sc'^^rated and exoommvmicated as 
it wure frvMii the rest ot mankiuvi. My heart dutieri^d in my 
breast with jv\v when 1 ^xw so niany human cv>untenancess 
anvi I could sc-arce retrain trom that kind of laughter 
\vh^\-h prvve<\is frv"»m some viegree of inward pleasure, 
\V ,,oa we havx:* been fvvr a consivierable time tossi:^g on the 
vast waters, far from the sight of any latni or ships, or any 
mortal crrature but ourselves v^'^^'^pt a few fish anvi sea 
birvisV the who^le worlvl. for aught we kiv>w. may be under 
a Sv\\>nvi deluge, aini wte \^like Xvvah and his cvvnpany in 
the ark' the only surviving rciunant of the human race, 

T««s»i&ir. October ». 

This mv>n\i:\g we xreighexJ anchor with a gentle breeac; 

aind patssevi by Newcastle, wha»ce thej haikd us and baMie 

us welconvt, 'Tis exire«nc fine xreaitlvHr^ The sun en. 

livens our stiff Umlys with his glorious njs of waurmth u»d 



ESSAYS AND CORKESrONDENCE 253 

brig-htness. The sky looks gav, with here and there a 
silver cloud. The tresh breezes from the woods refresh 
us; the immediate prospect of liberty after so long- and 
irksome confinenuMit ravishes us. In siiort all things con- 
spire to make this the most joyful day I ever knew. As 
we passed by Chester some of the company went on shore, 
impatient once more to tread on ftrra Jir/fuz, :\nd design- 
ing for Philadelphia by land. Four of us remained on 
board, not caring for the fatigue of travel when we knew 
the vovage had much weakened us. About eight at night, 
the wind failing us, we cast anchor at Red Bank, six miles 
from Philadelphia, and thought we must be obliged to lie 
on board that night ; but some young Philadelphians hap- 
pening to be out upon their pleasure in a boat, they came 
on board, and otiered to take us up with them ; we ac- 
cepted of their kind proposal, and about ten o'clock land- 
ed at Philadelphia, heartily congratulating each other 
upon our having happily completed so tedious and dan- 
gerous a voyage. Thank God ! 

Franklin's liberal and talented spirit was early evinced in his corre- 
spondence with friends and relatives, and to the end of his life was a 
marked characteristic of the man. The foUowing^. amont;^ his earliest let- 
ters bearing; upon the subject of religion, was written to his father, Frank- 
lin being at its date thirty-two years of age : 

TO JOSIAH FRANKLIN 

Philadelphia, 13 April, 173S. 

Honored Father: I have your favors of the 21st of 
March, in which you both seem concerned lest I have 
imbibed some erroneous opinions. Doubtless I have my 
share ; and when the natural weakness and imperfection 
of human understanding is considered, the unavoidable 
influence of education, custom, books, and coiupany upon 
our ways of thinking, I imagine a man must have a good 
deal of vanity who believes, and a good deal of boldness 
who affirms, that all the doctrines he holds are true, and 
all he rejects are false. And perhaps the same may be 



254 



FRANKLIN 



justly said of every sect, church, and society of men, 
when they assume to themselves that infallibility which 
they deny to the Pope and councils. 

I think opinions should be judged of by their influences 
and effects ; and, if a man holds none that tend to make 
him less virtuous or more vicious, it ma)' be concluded 
that he holds none that are dangerous ; which I hope is 
the case with me. 

I am sorry you should have any uneasiness on my 
account ; and if it were a thing possible for one to alter 
his opinions in order to please another, I know none whom 
I ought more willingly to oblige in that respect than 
yourselves. 

But, since it is no more in a man's power to think than 
to look like another, methinks all that should be expected 
from me is, to keep my mind open to conviction, to hear 
patiently, and to examine attentively, whatever is offered 
me for that end ; and, if after all I continue in the same 
errors, I believe )'Our usual charity will induce you to 
rather pity and excuse, than blame me. In the meantime 
your care and concern for me is what I am very thankful 
for. 

My mother grieves, that one of her sons is an Arian, 
another an Arminian. What an Arminian or an Arian is 
I cannot say that I very well know. The truth is, I make 
such distinctions very little my study. I think vital reli- 
gion has always suffered, when orthodoxy is more regarded 
than virtue ; and the Scriptures assure me, that at the last 
day we shall not be examined what we tJwugJit, but what 
we did, and our recommendation will not be, that we said 
Lord ! Lord ! but that we did good to our fellow creatures. 
See Matt. xxv. 

As to the freemasons, I know no way of giving my 
mother a better account of them than she seems to have 
at present, since it is not allowed that women should be 
admitted into that secret society. She has, I must confess, 
on that account, some reason to be displeased with it ; but, 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



255 



for anything else, I must entreat her to suspend her judg- 
ment till she is better informed, unless she will believe 
me, when I assure her, that they are in general a very 
harmless sort of people, and have no principles or practices 
that are inconsistent with religion or good manners. 

I am your dutiful son, 

B. Franklin. 

TO MRS. JANE MECOM 

Philadelphia, 28 July, 1743. 

Dearest Sister Jenny: I took your admonition 
very kindly, and was far from being offended at you for 
it. If I say anything about it to you, it is only to rectify 
some wrong opinions you seem to have entertained of 
me ; and this I do only because they give you some 
uneasiness, which I am unwilling to be the occasion of. 
You express yourself, as if you thought I was against the 
worshipping of God, and doubt that good works would 
merit heaven ; which are both fancies of your own, I 
think, without foundation. I am so far from thinking that 
God is not to be worshipped, that I have composed and 
wrote a whole book of devotions for my own use ; and I 
imagine there are few, if any, in the world so weak as to 
imagine, that the little good we can do here can merit so 
vast a reward hereafter. 

There are some things in your New England doctrine 
and worship, which I do not agree with ; but I do not 
therefore condemn them, or desire to shake your belief 
or practice of them. We may dislike things that are 
nevertheless right in themselves. I would only have you 
make me the same allowance, and have a better opinion 
both of morality and your brother. Read the pages of 
Mr. Edwards's late book, entitled " Some Thoughts con- 
cerning the present Revival of Religion in New England," 
from 367 to 375, and when you judge of others, if you can 
perceive the fruit to be good, don't terrify yourself that 
the tree may be evil ; but be assured it is not so, for you 



256 



FRANKLIN 



know who has said, " Men do not gather grapes of thorns 
and figs of thistles." I have no time to add, but that I 
shall always be your affectionate brother, 

B. Franklin. 

Franklin's earliest political pamphlet, entitled " Plain Truth," was 
occasioned by the utter want in the city of Philadelphia of any means of 
defence against invasion. In 1744, Great Briiain being at war with Spain, 
a Spanish privateer sailed up Delaware Bay, and approached as near to 
that flourishing city as Newcastle, Delaware — about thirty-four miles 
below it, lying also on the Delaware river. A great panic spread through 
the peaceful city ; the more high-spirited and patriotic citizens were for 
organizing and arming for defence : but the larger number of Quakers, 
who owned perhaps the greater share of wealth, were strongly opposed to 
this course. Franklin, seeing the grave nature of the situation, wrote and 
printed anonymously an appeal to the good sense of his fellow-citizens, 
marked by great skill in statement, and persuasive force. It resulted, 
after passing through several editions, in so moulding public opinion that 
it was the moving power which led to the formation of military associa- 
tions for the defence of the country, and which became so important an 
arm in the French and Indian wars which followed a few years later in 
Pennsylvania and other States. There is room here for a few extracts 
only from " Plain Truth ; or serious considerations on the present state of 
the city of Philadelphia and province of Pennsylvania." 

The enemy, no doubt, have been told that the people 
of Pennsylvania are Quakers, and against all defence, 
from a principle of conscience. This, though true of a 
part, and that a small part only of the inhabitants, is 
commonly said of the whole ; and what may make it 
look probable to strangers is, that, in fact, nothing is done 
by any part of the people toward their defence. But to 
refuse defending one's self, or one's country, is so unusual 
a thing among mankind, that possibly they may not believe 
it, till, by experience, they find they can come higher and 
higher up our river, seize our vessels, land and plunder 
our villages, and retire with their booty unmolested. 
Will not this confirm the report, and give them the great- 
est encouragement to strike one bold stroke for the city, 
and for the whole plunder of the river? 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 257 

It is said by some, that the expense of a vessel to guard 
our trade, would be very heavy, greater perhaps than all 
the enemy can be supposed to take from us at sea would 
amount to ; and that it would be cheaper for the govern- 
ment to open an insurance office, and pay all losses. But 
is this right reasoning ? I think not ; for what the enemy 
takes is clear loss to us, and gain to him ; increasing his 
means and strength, as much as it diminishes ours, so 
making the difference double ; whereas the money paid 
our own tradesmen for building and fitting out a vessel of 
defence, remains in the country, and circulates among us; 
what is paid to the officers and seamen, that navigate her, 
is also spent ashore, and soon gets into other hands ; the 
farmer receives the money for her provisions, and, on the 
whole, nothing is clearly lost to the country, but her wear 
and tear, or so much as she sells for at the end of the war 
less than her first cost. This loss, and a trifling one it is, 
is all the inconvenience ; but how many and how great 
are the conveniences and advantages ! And, should the 
enemy, through our supineness and neglect to provide for 
the defence both of our trade and country, be encouraged 
to attempt this city, and, after plundering us of our goods, 
either burn it, or put it to ransom, how great would that 
loss be ! beside the confusion, terror, and distress, so many 
hundreds of families would be involved in ! . . . 

And is our prospect better, if we turn our eyes to the 
strength of the opposite party, those great and rich men, 
merchants and others, who are ever railing at Quakers 
for doing what their principles seem to require, and what 
in charity we ought to believe we think their duty, but 
take no one step themselves for the public safety? 

. . . "What," say they, "shall we lay out our money 
to protect the trade of Quakers? Shall we fight to defend 
Quakers ? No ; let the trade perish, and the city burn ; 
let what will happen, we shall never lift a finger to pre- 
vent it." Yet the Quakers have conscience to plead for 
their resolution not to fight, which those gentlemen have 
17 



■5S 



FRANKLIN 



not. Conscience with vou, p^cntlomcn, is on the other side 
of the question ; conscience enjoins it as a duty on you 
(and indeed I tliink it such on every man) to defend your 
country, your friends, your aged parents, your wives, and 
helpless children ; and yet you resolve not to perform this 
duty, but act contrary to your own consciences, because 
the Quakers act according to theirs. Till of late, I could 
scarcely believe the story of him, who refused to pump 
in a sinking- ship, because one on board, whom he hated, 
would be saved by it as well as himself. But such, it 
sooms, is the unhappiness of human nature, that our pas- 
sions, when violent, often are too hard for the united force 
of reason, dutv. and religion. . . , 

If this new, Nourishing city, and greatly improving 
colony, is destrovcd and ruined, it will not be for want of 
numbers of inhabitants able to bear arms in its detence. 
It is computed, that we have at least (exclusive of the 
Quakers) sixty thousand fighting men acquainted with 
tire-arms, many of them hunters and marksmen, hardy and 
bold. All we want is order, discipline, and a few cannon. 

. . . Great numbers of our people are of British race; 
and, though the fierce fighting animals of those unhappy 
Islands are said to abate their native fire and intrepiditv, 
when removed to a foreign clime, yet with the people it 
is not so ; our neighbors of New England afford the world 
a convincing proof, that Britons, though a hundred vears 
transplanted, and to the remotest part of the earth, may 
vet retain, even to the third and fourth descent, that zeal 
for the public good, that militarv prowess, and that 
undaunted spirit, which has in every age distinguished 
their nation. 

TO JOHN FRANKLIN. AT BOSTON 
Humorous Remarks on the Expedition against Cape Breton 

Philadelphia, 1745. 

Our people are extremelv impatient to hear of vour 
success at Cape Breton. Mv shop is filled with thirty 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



259 



inquiries at the coming in of every post. Some wonder 
the place is not yet taken. I tell them I shall be glad to 
hear that news three months hence. Fortified towns are 
hard nuts to crack ; and your teeth have not been accus- 
tomed to it. Taking strong places is a particular trade, 
which you have taken up without serving an apprentice- 
ship to it. Armies and veterans need skilful engineers 
to direct them in their attack. Have you any? But 
some think that forts are as easy taken as snuff. Father 
Moody's prayers look tolerably modest. You have a fast 
and prayer day for that purpose, in which I compute five 
hundred thousand petitions were offered up to the same 
effect in New England, which added to the petitions of 
every family morning and evening, multiplied by the 
number of days since January 25, make forty-five millions 
of prayers ; which, set against the prayers of a few priests 
in the garrison to the Virgin Mary, give a vast balance in 
your favor. 

If you do not succeed, I fear I shall have but an indif- 
ferent opinion of Presbyterian prayers in such cases, as 
long as I live. Indeed in attacking strong towns, I should 
have more dependence on works than on faith ; for, like 
the kingdom of heaven, they are to be taken by force and 
violence ; and in a French garrison I suppose there are 
devils of that kind, that they are not to be cast out by 
prayers and fasting, unless it be by their own fasting for 
want of provisions. I believe there is a scripture in what 
I have wrote, but I cannot adorn the margin with quota- 
tions, having a bad memory and no Concordance at hand ; 
besides no more time than to subscribe myself, etc. 

B. Franklin. 

TO CADWALLADER COLDEN 

Philadelphia, 29 Sept., 1748. 

Sir : I congratulate you upon your return to your 
beloved retirement. I, too, am taking the proper mea- 
sures for obtaining leisure to enjoy life and my friends, 



26o FRANKLIN 

more tlian heretofore, having' put my printing-house 
under the care of my partner, David Hall, absolutely left 
of! book-selling, and removed to a more quiet part of the 
town, where I am settling my old accounts, and hope 
soon to be quite master of my own time, and no longer, 
as the song has it, at every one's call but my own. If health 
continue, 1 hope to be able in another year to visit the 
most distant friend I have without inconvenience. . . . 
Thus you see I am in a fair way of having no other tasks, 
than such as I shall like to give mvself, and of enjoying 
what 1 look upon as a great happiness, leisure to read, 
study, make experiments, and converse at large with such 
ingenious and worthy men as are pleased to honor me 
with their friendship or acquaintance, on such points as 
may produce something for the common benefit of man- 
kind, uninterrupted by the little cares and fatigues of 
business. Among other pleasures I promise mvself, that 
of corresponding more frequently and fullv with Dr. Col- 
den, is not of the least. 

I am, with great esteem and respect, dear sir, etc. 

B. Franklin. 

I^erc is a letter to a young^ ladv friend of Dr. Franklin, which shows 
the philosopher's mind ever on the alert to trace out the connection be- 
tween causes antl effects. 

20 September, 1761. 

Mv Dear Friend : It is, as you observed in our late 
conversation, a very general opinion, that all rivers run 
into the sea, or deposit their waters there. It is a kind of 
audacitv to call such general opinions in question, and 
mav subject one to censure. But we must hazard some- 
thing in what w^e think the cause of truth ; and if we pro- 
pose our objections modestlv, we shall, though mistaken, 
deserve a censure less severe, than when we are both mis- 
taken and insolent. 

That some rivers run into the sea is bevond a doubt ; 
such for instance are the Amazons and, I think, the 
Oronoko and the Mississippi. The proof is, that their 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 261 

waters arc fresh quite to the sea, and out to some distance 
from the land. Our question is, whether the fresh waters 
of those rivers whose beds are filled with salt water to a 
considerable distance up from the sea (as the Thames, the 
Delaware, and the rivers that communicate with Chesa- 
peake Bay in Virginia) do ever arrive at the sea. And as 
I suspect they do not, I am now to acquaint you with my 
reasons ; or, if they are not allowed to be reasons, my 
conceptions, at least, of this matter. 

The commrm supply of rivers is from springs, which 
draw their origin from rain that has soaked into the 
earth. The union of a number of springs forms a river. 
The waters, as they run, expfjsed to the sun, air, and 
wind, arc continually evaprjrating. Hence in travelling 
one may often see where a river runs, by a long bluish 
mist over it, though we are at such a distance as not to 
see the river itself. The quantity of this evaporation is 
greater or less, in proportion to the surface exposed by 
the same quantity of water to those causes of evaporation. 
While the river runs in a narrow, confined channel in the 
upper hilly country, only a small surface is exposed ; a 
greater, as the river widens. Now, if a river ends in a 
lake, as some do, whereby its waters are spread so wide 
as that the evaporation is equal to the sum of all its 
springs, that lake will never overflow. And if, instead of 
ending in a lake, it was drawn into greater length as a 
river, so as to expose a surface equal in the whole to that 
lake, the evaporation would be equal, and such river 
would end as a canal ; when the ignorant might suppose, 
as they actually do in such cases, that the river loses itself 
by running underground, whereas in truth it has run up 
into the air. 

As to our other subject — the different degrees of heat 
imbibed from the sun's rays by cloths of different colors 
— since I cannot find the notes of my experiments to send 
you, I must give it as well as I can from memory. 



262 FRANKLIN 

But, first, let me mention an experiment you may easily 
make yourself. Walk but a quarter of an hour in your 
garden when the sun shines, with a part of your dress 
white, and a part black ; then apply your hand to them 
alternately, and you will find a very great difference in 
their warmth. The black will be quite hot to the touch, 
the white still cool. 

Another. Try to fire the paper with a burning glass. 
If it is white, you will not easily burn it ; but if you bring 
the focus to a black spot, or upon letters, written or printed, 
thepaper will immediately be on fire under the letters. . . . 

My experiment was this. I took a number of little 
square pieces of broadcloth from a tailor's pattern card, 
of various colors. There were black, deep-blue, lighter 
blue, green, purple, red, yellow, white, and other colors, 
or shades of colors. I laid them all out upon the snow in 
a bright sunshiny morning. In a few hours (I cannot 
now be exact as to the time), the black, being warmed 
most by the sun, was sunk so low as to be below the 
stroke of the sun's rays ; the dark blue almost as low, the 
lighter blue not quite so much as the dark, the other colors 
less as they were lighter ; and the quite white remained 
on the surface of the snow, not having entered it at all. 

What signifies philosophy that does not apply to some 
use ? May we not learn from hence that black clothes are 
not so fit to wear in a hot, sunny climate or season, as 
white ones ; because in such clothes the body is more 
heated by the sun when we walk abroad, and are at the 
same time heated by the exercise, which double heat is 
apt to bring on putrid, dangerous fevers ? That soldiers 
and seamen, who must march and labor in the sun, should 
in the East or West Indies have an uniform of white ? 
That summer hats, for men or women, should be white, as 
repelling that heat which gives headaches to many, and 
to some the fatal stroke that the French call the coup de 
soleil f Yours affectionately, 

B. Franklin. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 263 

TO DAVID HUME 

London, 19 May, 1762. 

It is no small pleasure to me to hear from you that my 
paper on the means of preserving buildings from damage 
by lightning, was acceptable to the Philosophical Society. 
Mr. Russel's proposals of improvement are very sensible 
and just. A leaden spout or pipe is undoubtedly a good 
conductor, so far as it goes. If the conductor enters the 
ground just at the foundation, and from thence is carried 
horizontally to some v/ell, or to a distant rod driven 
downright into the earth, I would then propose, that the 
part under the ground should be lead, as less liable to 
consume with rust than iron. Because, if the conductor 
near the foot of the wall should be wasted, the lightning 
might act on the moisture of the earth, and by suddenly 
rarefying it occasion an explosion, that may damage the 
foundation. In the experiment of discharging my large 
case of electrical bottles through a piece of small glass 
tube filled with water, the suddenly rarefied water has ex- 
ploded with a force equal, I think, to that of so much gun- 
powder ; bursting the tube into many pieces, and driving 
them with violence in all directions and to all parts of the 
room. The shivering of trees into small splinters, like a 
broom, is probably owing to this rarefaction of the sap in 
the longitudinal pores, or capillary pipes, in the substance 
of the wood. And the blowing up of bricks or stones in 
a hearth, rending stones out of a foundation, and splitting 
of walls, are also probably effects sometimes of rarefied 
moisture in the earth, under the hearth, or in the walls. 
We should therefore have a durable conductor under 
ground, or convey the lightning to the earth at some dis- 
tance. 

It must afford Lord Marischal a good deal of diversion 
to preside in a dispute so ridiculous as that you mention. 
Judges in their decisions often use precedents. I have 
somewhere met with one, that is what the lawyers call a 



264 



FRANKLIN 



case in point. The Church people and the Puritans in a 
country town had once a bitter contention concerning the 
erecting of a Maypole, which the former desired and the 
latter opposed. Each party endeavoured to strengthen 
itself by obtaining the authority of the mayor, directing or 
forbidding a Maypole. He heard their altercation with 
great patience, and then gravely determined thus : " You, 
that are for having no Maypole, shall have no Maypole ; 
and you, that are for having a Maypole, shall have a May- 
pole. Get about your business, and let me hear no more 
of this quarrel." 

Your compliment of ^(7^/ and ww^/6'W is very obliging 
to me, but a little injurious to your country. The various 
value of every thing in every part of this world arises, you 
know, from the various proportions of the quantity to the 
demand. We are told, that gold and silver in Solomon's 
time were so plenty, as to be of no more value in his 
country than the stones in the street. You have here at 
present just such a plenty of wisdom. Your people are, 
therefore, not to be censured for desiring no more among 
them than they have ; and if I have any, I should certainlv 
carry it where, from its scarcity, it may probably come 
to a better market. Yours most affectionately, 

B. Franklin. 

While Benjamin Franklin was engaged at the court of Great Britain, 
he had opportunities of becoming acquainted with many persons of the 
first consequence in the state, who, on their side, were not wanting in 
observing his extraordinary sagacity and comprehensive understanding. 

About this time Mr. Franklin made a journey to Scotland, whither 
his reputation as a philosopher had preceded him. He was greeted by 
the learned of that countr\', and the University of St. Andrews conferred 
upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. Its example was followed by the 
Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. 

In the summer of 1762 Dr. Franklin returned to Philadelphia, and 
shortly after received the thanks of the Assembly of Pennsylvania, " as 
well for the faithful discharge of his duty to that province in particu- 
lar, as for the many and important services done to America in general, 
during his residence in Great Britain." 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 265 

Dr. Franklin was a warm opponent of the proprietary government of 
Pennsylvania, which taxed the people heavily for the benefit of the heirs 
of William Penn. The influence of the friends of the proprietors raised 
much opposition to Franklin on occasion of his renomination to Great 
Britain as the agent of Pennsylvania in 1764, although he was chosen by 
a handsome majority. 

The opposition made to his reappointment seems greatly to have 
affected his feelings, as it came from men with whom he had long been 
connected, both in public and private life — "the very ashes of whose for- 
mer friendship," he declared, " he revered." His pathetic farewell to Penn- 
sylvania, the day before his departure, is a strong proof of the agitation of 
his mind on this occasion. 

" I am now," says he, "to take leave — perhaps a last leave — of the 
country I love, and in which I have spent the greatest part of my life. 
Esto perpetua ! I wish every kind of prosperity to my friends, and I 
forgive my enemies." 

Franklin's second embassy to England came at a most critical period 
for the interests and liberties of his country. The odious Stamp Act, 
which taxed all business transactions in America, by act of Parliament, in 
which the colonies taxed had no representation whatever, was passed soon 
after his arrival in London. It created great excitement and opposition 
in America. 

Dr. Franklin strenuously exerted himself to free America from this 
odious tax, the principal objection to which was that it was imposed by a 
British Parliament, which, the Americans asserted, had no right to tax 
them. 

It began to appear expedient to the administration, then under the 
Marquis of Rockingham, to endeavour to calm the minds of the colonists, 
and the repeal of the Stamp Tax was contemplated. Among other means 
of collecting information on the disposition of the people to submit to it, 
Dr. Franklin was (February 3, 1766) "ordered to attend the committee 
of the whole House of Commons, to whom it was referred to consider 
further the several papers relative to America, which were presented to 
the House by Mr. Secretary Conway," etc. 

The resolutions of the committee were reported by the chairman, 
Mr. Fuller, their seventh and last resolution setting forth " that it was 
their opinion that the House be moved that leave be given to bring in a 
bill to repeal the Stamp Act." A proposal for recommitting this resolu- 
tion was negatived by 240 votes to 133 ; and the act, after some opposi- 
tion, was repealed about a year after it was enacted and before it had 
ever been carried into execution. Dr. Franklin, about this period, in addi- 
tion to his agency for Pennsylvania, received the separate appointments 
of agent for the respective colonies of New Jersey, Georgia, and Massa- 



266 FRANKLIN 

chusetts, all of which he continued to fill with equal credit to himself and 
advantage to his constituents during his stay in England. 

In the course of this year (1766) he visited Holland and Germany, 
and received the greatest marks of attention and respect from men of sci- 
ence in those countries. 

In the following year, as also in 1769, he visited Paris, where he was 
no less favourably received than he had been in Germany. He was intro- 
duced to the king (Louis XV) and his sisters, Mesdames de France, and 
particularly distinguished by them, as he was also by the Academy of 
Sciences (of which he was afterward elected a foreign associate) and 
many other scientific and literaiy characters. 

In a London paper of ISIay 20, 1765, appeared the following satirical 
piece written by Dr. Franklin under the name of " A Traveller " : 

Sir: In your paper of Wednesday last, an ingenious 
correspondent who calls himself The Spectator, and 
dates from Piinlico, under the guise of good will to the 
news-writers, whom he calls a " useful body of men in this 
great city," has, in my opinion, artfully attempted to turn 
them and their works into ridicule, wherein, if he could 
succeed, great injury might be done to the public as well 
as to these good people. 

Supposing, Sir, that the " ii'c hears " they give us of 
this or the other intended tour or voyage of this and 
the other great personage were mere inventions, yet they 
at least offer us an innocent amusement while we read, 
and useful matter for conversation when we are disposed 
to converse. 

Englishmen, Sir, are too apt to be silent when they 
have nothing to say, and too apt to be sullen when they 
are silent ; and, when they are sullen, to hang themselves. 
But, by these "wc hears, we are supplied with abundant 
funds for discourse. We discuss the motives for such 
voyages, the probability of their being undertaken, and 
the practicability of their execution. Here we display 
our judgment in politics, our knowledge of the interests 
of princes, and our skill in geography, and (if we have it) 
show our dexterity in argumentation. In the mean time, 
the tedious hour is killed, we go home pleased with the 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 267 

applauses we have received from others, or at least with 
those we give to ourselves; we sleep soundly, and live on, 
to the comfort of our families. But, Sir, I beg leave to 
say, that all the articles of news that seem improbable are 
not mere inventions. Some of them, I can assure you on 
the faith of a traveller, are serious truths. And here, 
quitting Mr. Spectator of Pimlico, give me leave to in- 
stance the various accounts the news-writers have given 
us, with so much honest zeal for the welfare of Poor Old 
England, of the establishing manufactures in the colonies 
to the prejudice of those of the kingdom. It is objected 
by superficial readers, who yet pretend to some knowl- 
edge of those countries, that such establishments are not 
only improbable, but impossible, for that their sheep have 
but little wool, not in the whole sufficient for a pair of 
stockings a year to each inhabitant ; that, from the uni- 
versal dearness of labor among them, the working of iron 
and other materials, except in a few coarse instances, is 
impracticable to any advantage. 

Dear Sir, do not let us suffer ourselves to be amused 
with such groundless objections. The very tails of the 
American sheep are so laden with wool, that each has a 
little car or wagon on four little wheels, to support and 
keep it from trailing on the ground. Would they caulk 
their ships, would they even litter their horses with wool, 
if it were not both plenty and cheap ? And what signi- 
fies the dearness of labor, when an English shilling passes 
for five and twenty ? Their engaging three hundred silk 
throwsters here in one week for New York was treated 
as a fable, because, forsooth, they have " no silk there to 
throw." Those, who make this objection, perhaps do not 
know, that, at the same time the agents from the King of 
Spain were at Quebec to contract for one thousand pieces 
of cannon to be made there for the fortification of Mexico, 
and at New York engaging the usual supply of woollen 
floor-carpets for their West India houses, other agents 
from the emperor of China were at Boston treating about 



268 FRANKLIN 

an exchange of raw silk for wool, to be carried in Chinese 
junks through the Straits of Magellan. 

And yet all this is as certainly true, as the account 
said to be from Quebec, in all the papers of last week, 
that the inhabitants of Canada are making preparations 
for a cod and whale fishery this "summer in the upper 
Lakes." Ignorant people may object, that the upper 
Lakes are fresh, and that cod and whales are salt water 
fish ; but let them know, Sir, that cod, like other fish 
when attacked by their enemies, fly into any water where 
they can be safest ; that whales, when they have a mind 
to eat cod, pursue them wherever they fly ; and that the 
grand leap of the whale in the chase up the Falls of 
Niagara is esteemed, by all who have seen it, as one of the 
finest spectacles in nature. Really, Sir, the world is 
grown too incredulous. It is like the pendulum ever 
swinging from one extreme to another. Formerly every 
thing printed was believed, because it was in print. Now 
things seem to be disbelieved for just the very same rea- 
son. Wise men wonder at the present growth of infi- 
delity. They should have considered, when they taught 
the people to doubt the authority of newspapers and the 
truth of predictions in the almanacs, that the next step 
miofht be a disbelief of the well vouched accounts of ghosts 
and witches, and doubts even of the truths of the Creed. 

Thus much I thought it necessar}'- to say in favor of 
an honest set of writers, whose comfortable living de- 
pends on collecting and supplying the printers with news 
at the small price of sixpence an article, and who always 
show their regard to truth, by contradicting in a subse- 
quent article such as are wrong, for another sixpence, to 
the great satisfaction and improvement of us coffee-house 
students in history and politics, and all future Livys, 
Rapins, Robertsons, Humes, and Macaulays, who may be 
sincerely inclined to furnish the world with that rara avis, 
a true history. I am. Sir, your humble servant, 

A Traveller. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



269 



DR. FRANKLIN'S EXAMINATION BEFORE THE HOUSE 
OF COMMONS 
February 13, 1766. 

1. Q. What is your name, and place of abode? 
A. Franklin, of Philadelphia. 

2. Q. Do the Americans pay any considerable taxes 
among themselves? 

A. Certainly many, and very heavy taxes. 

3. Q. What are the present taxes in Pennsylvania, 
laid by the laws of the colony ? 

A. There are taxes on all estates real and personal; 
a poll tax ; a tax on all offices, professions, trades, and 
businesses, according to their profits ; an excise on all 
wine, rum, and other spirits ; and a duty of ten pounds 
per head on all negroes imported, with some other duties. 

4. Q. For what purposes are those taxes laid? 

A. For the support of the civil and military estab- 
lishments of the country, and to discharge the heavy 
debt contracted in the last war. 

5. Q. How long are those taxes to continue? 

A. Those for discharging the debt are to continue till 
1772, and longer, if the debt should not be then all dis- 
charged. The others must always continue. 

6. Q. Was it not expected that the debt would have 
been sooner discharged ? 

A. It was, when the peace was made with France and 
Spain. But, a fresh war breaking out with the Indians, a 
fresh load of debt was incurred ; and the taxes, of course, 
continued longer by a new law. 

7. Q. Are not all the people very able to pay those 
taxes ? 

A. No. The frontier counties, all along the continent, 
having been frequently ravaged by the enemy and greatly 
impoverished, are able to pay very little tax. And there- 
fore, in consideration of their distresses, our late tax laws 
do expressly favor those counties, excusing the sufferers ; 
and I suppose the same is done in other governments. 



2'jQ FRANKLIN 

8. Q. Are not you concerned in the management of 
the post-office in America? 

A. Yes. I am deputy-postmaster-general of North 
America. 

9. Q. Don't you think the distribution of stamps by 
post to all the inhabitants very practicable, if there was 
no opposition ? 

A. The posts only go along the seacoasts; they do not, 
except in a few instances, go back into the country ; and, 
if they did, sending for stamps by post would occasion 
an expense of postage amounting in many cases to much 
more than that of the stamps themselves. 

10. Q. Are you acquainted with Newfoundland? 
A. I never was there. 

11. Q. Do you know whether there are any post- 
roads on that island ? 

A. I have heard that there are no roads at all, but 
that the communication between one settlement and an- 
other is by sea only. 

12. Q. Can you disperse the stamps by post in 
Canada ? 

A. There is only a post between Montreal and Que- 
bec. The inhabitants live so scattered and remote from 
each other in that vast country, that posts cannot be sup- 
ported among them, and therefore they cannot get stamps 
per post. The English colonies, too, along the frontiers 
are very thinly settled. 

13. Q. From the thinness of the back settlements, 
would not the Stamp Act be extremely inconvenient to 
the inhabitants, if executed ? 

A. To be sure it would; as many of the inhabitants 
could not get stamps when they had occasion for them 
without taking long journeys, and spending perhaps 
three or four pounds, that the crown might get six- 
pence. 

14. Q. Are not the colonies, from their circumstances, 
very able to pay the stamp duty? 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



271 



A. In my opinion there is not gold and silver enough 
in the colonies to pay the stamp duty for one year.' 

15. Q. Don't you know that the money arising from 
the stamps was all to be laid out in America ? 

A. I know it is appropriated by the act to the Ameri- 
can service ; but it will be spent in the conquered colo- 
nies, where the soldiers are ; not in the colonies that 
pay it. 

16. Q. Is there not a balance of trade due from the 
colonies where the troops are posted, that will bring back 
the money to the old colonies ? 

A. I think not. I believe very little would come back. 
I know of no trade likely to bring it back. I think it 
would come, from the colonies where it was spent, directly 
to England ; for I have always observed, that in every 
colony the more plenty the means of remittance to Eng- 
land, the more goods are sent for, and the more trade with 
England carried on. 

17. Q. What number of white inhabitants do you think 
there are in Pennsylvania ? 

A. I suppose there may be about one hundred and 
sixty thousand. 

18. Q. What number of them are Quakers ? 
A. Perhaps a third. 

19. Q. What number of Germans? 

A. Perhaps another third ; but I cannot speak with 
certainty. 

* The Stamp Act said "that the Americans shall have no commerce, 
make no exchange of property with each other, neither purchase, nor 
grant, nor recover debts ; they shall neither marry nor make their wills, 
unless they pay such and such sums" in specie for the stamps which must 
give validity to the proceedings. The operation of such a tax, had it ob- 
tained the consent of the people, appeared inevitable ; and its annual pro- 
ductiveness, on its introduction, was estimated, by its proposer in the 
House of Commons at the committee for supplies, at one hundred thou- 
sand pounds sterling. The colonies being already reduced to the neces- 
sity of hcLving paper money, by sending to Britain the specie they collected 
in foreign trade, in order to make up for the deficiency of their other re- 
turns for British manufactures, there were doubts whether there could 
remain specie sufficient to answer the tax. 



2/2 FRANKLIN 

20. Q, Have any number of the Germans seen service, 
as soldiers, in Europe ? 

A. Yes, many of them, both in Europe and America. 

21. Q. Are they as much dissatisfied with the stamp 
duty as the English ? 

A. Yes, and more ; and with reason, as their stamps 
are, in many cases, to be double. 

22. Q. How many white men do you suppose there 
are in North America? 

A. About three hundred thousand, from sixteen to 
sixty years of age. 

23. Q. What may be the amount of one year's imports 
into Pennsylvania from Britain ? 

A. I have been informed that our merchants compute 
the imports from Britain to be above five hundred thou- 
sand pounds. 

24. Q. What may be the amount of the produqe of 
your province exported to Britain? 

A. It must be small, as we produce little that is wanted 
in Britain. I suppose it cannot exceed forty thousand 
pounds. 

25. Q. How then do you pay the balance? 

A. The balance is paid by our produce carried to the 
West Indies, and sold in our own islands, or to the French, 
Spaniards, Danes, and Dutch ; by the same produce car- 
ried to other colonies in North America, as to New Eng- 
land, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Carolina, and Georgia; 
by the same, carried to different parts of Europe, as Spain, 
Portugal, and Italy. In all which places we receive either 
money, bills of exchange, or commodities that suit for 
remittance to Britain ; which, together with all the 
profits on the industry of our merchants and mariners, 
arising in those circuitous voyages, and the freights made 
by their ships, centre finally in Britain to discharge the 
balance, and pay for British manufactures continually 
used in the provinces, or sold to foreigners by our 
traders. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 273 

26. Q. Have you heard of any difficulties lately laid 
on the Spanish trade? 

A. Yes; I have heard, that it has been greatly ob- 
.structed by some new regulations, and by the English 
men-of-war and cutters stationed all along the coast in 
America. 

27. Q. Do you think it right that America should be 
protected by this country and pay no part of the expense ? 

A. That is not the case. The colonies raised, clothed, 
and paid, during the last war, near twenty -five thousand 
men, and spent many millions. 

28. Q. Were you not reimbursed by Parliament? 

A. We were only reimbursed what, in your opinion, 
we had advanced beyond our proportion, or beyond what 
might reasonably be expected from us ; and it was a very 
small part of what we spent. Pennsylvania, in particular, 
disbursed about five hundred thousand pounds, and the 
reimbursements, in the whole, did not exceed sixty thou- 
sand pounds. 

29. Q. You have said that you pay heavy taxes in 
Pennsylvania ; what do they amount to in the pound ? 

A. The tax on all estates, real and personal, is eighteen 
pence in the pound, fully rated ; and the tax on the profits 
of trades and professions, with other taxes, do, I suppose, 
make full half a crown in the pound. 

30. Q. Do you know anything of the rate of exchange 
in Pennsylvania, and whether it has fallen lately? 

A. It is commonly from one hundred and seventy to 
one hundred and seventy-five. I have heard that it has 
fallen lately from one hundred and seventy-five to one 
hundred and sixty-two and a half ; owing, I suppose, to 
their lessening their orders for goods ; and, when their 
debts to this country are paid, I think the exchange will 
probably be at par. 

31. Q. Do you not think the people of America would 
submit to pay the stamp duty, if it was moderated ? 

A. No, never, unless compelled by force of arms. 
18 



274 



FRANKLIN 



32. C- '^re not the taxes in Tennsylvania laid on iin- 
cquallv. in i>nier to biiicien tlic English trade; particularly 
the tax on protessitMis ami business? 

./. It is not more buidensonie in proportion than the 
tax on lands, it is intt nded and supposed to take an equal 
proportion of protits. 

33. O. llow is the assembly composed? Oi what 
kinds of people are the members ; landholders or traders? 

.1. It is composed of landholders, merchants, and artifi- 
cers. 

34. 0- •^'"^' '^^^^ ^^^^^ majority landholders? 
A. 1 believe they are. 

35. (J. Do not they, as much as possible, shift the tax 
off from the land, to ease that, and lay the burden heavier 
on trade ? 

A. I have never understood it so. I never heard such 
a thing suggested. And indeed an attempt of that kind 
could answer no purpose. The merchant or trader is 
always skilled in figures, and ready with his pen and ink. 
If unequal burdens are laid on his trade, he puts an addi- 
tional price on his goods ; and the consumers, \vho are 
chiefly landholders, finally pay the greatest part, if not 
the whole. 

36. (J. What was the temper of America towards 
Great Britain before the year 1763? 

A. The best in the world. They submitted willingly 
to the government of the crown, and paid, in their courts, 
obedience to the acts of rarliament. Numerous as the 
people are in the several old provinces, they cost you 
nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons, or armies, to keep 
them in subjection. They were governed by this country 
at the expense only of a little pen, ink, and paper; they 
were led by a thread. They had not only a respect, but 
an affection for Great Britain ; for its laws, its customs 
and manners, and even a fondness for its fashions, that 
greatly increased the commerce. Natives of Britain were 
alwaNS treated with particular regard; to be an 0/e/- 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 27$ 

England man was, of itself, a character of some respect, 
and {:(ave a kind of rank among us. 

37. Q. And what is their temper now ? 
A. O, \<try much altered. 

38. Q. I^id you ever hear the authority of Parliament 
to make laws for America questioned till lately ? 

A. The authority of Parliament was allowed to be 
valid in all laws, except such as should lay internal taxes. 
It was never disputed in laying duties to regulate com- 
merce. 

39. Q. In what proportion hath population increased 
in America? 

A. I think the inhabitants of all the provinces together, 
taken at a medium, double in about twenty-five years. 
But their demand for British manufactures increases much 
faster; as the consumption is not merely in proportion to 
their numbers, but grows with the growing abilities of 
the same numbers to pay for them. In 1723, the whole 
importation from Britain to Pennsylvania was about fifteen 
thousand pounds sterling; it is now near half a million. 

40. Q. In what light did the people of America use 
to consider the Parliament of Great Britain ? 

A. They considered the Parliament as the great bul- 
wark and security of their liberties and privileges, and 
always spoke of it with the utmost respect and veneration. 
Arbitrary ministers, they thought, might possibly, at 
times, attempt to oppress them ; but they relied on it, 
that the Parliament, on application, would always give 
redress. They remembered, with gratitude, a strong 
instance of this, when a bill was brought into Parliament, 
with a clause to make royal instructions laws in the colo- 
nies, which the House of Commons would not pass, and 
it was thrown out. 

41. Q. And have they not still the same respect for 
Parliament? 

A. No, it is greatly lessened. 

42. Q. To what cause is that owing? 



2/6 FRANKLIN 

A. To a concurrence of causes ; the restraints lately 
laid on their trade, by which the bringing of foreign gold 
and silver into the colonies was prevented ; the prohibi- 
tion of making paper money among themselves, and then 
demanding a new and heavy tax by stamps, taking awav, 
at the same time, trials by juries, and refusing to receive 
and hear their humble petitions. 

43. (J. Don't you think they would submit to the 
Stamp Act. if it was modified, the obnoxious parts taken 
out. and the duty reduced to some particulars of small 
moment ? 

A. No, they will never submit to it. 

44. O. What do vou think is the reason that the people 
in America increase faster than in England? 

A. Because they marry younger, and more generally. 

45. (J. Why so? 

A. Because any young couple, that are industrious, 
niav easily obtain land of their own, on which they can 
raise a familv. 

46. (J. Are not the lower ranks of people more at their 
ease in America than in England ? 

A. They may be so, if they are sober and diligent, as 
thev are better paid for their labor. 

47. O. What is your opinion of a future tax. imposed 
on the same principle with that of the Stamp Act ? How 
would the Americans receive it ? 

A. Just as thev do this. Thev would not pay it. 

4S. (J. Have not vou heard of the resolutions of this 
I louse, and of the House of Lords, asserting the right of 
Parliament relating to America, including a power to tax 
the people there ? 

A. Yes, 1 have heard of such resolutions. 

49. (J. What will be the opinion of the Americans on 
those resolutions? 

A. Thev will think them unconstitutional and unjust. 

50. (J- Was it an opinion in America before 1763, that 
the Parliament had no riiiht to lav taxes and duties there? 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 277 

A. I never heard any objection to the right of laying 
duties to regulate commerce ; but a right to lay internal 
taxes was never supposed to be in Parliament, as we are 
not represented there. 

51. Q. On what do you found your opinion, that the 
people in America made any such distinction ? 

A. I know that whenever the subject has occurred in 
conversation where I have been present, it has appeared 
to be the opinion of every one, that we could not be taxed 
by a Parliament wherein we were not represented. But 
the payment of duties laid by an act of Parliament, as 
regulations of commerce, was never disputed. 

52. Q. But can you name any act of assembly, or 
public act of any of your governments, that made such 
distinction ? 

A. I do not know that there was any; I think there 
was never an occasion to make any such act, till now that 
you have attempted to tax us ; that has occasioned reso- 
lutions of assembly, declaring the distinction, in which I 
think every assembly on the continent, and ever}' member 
in every assembly, have been unanimous. 

53. Q. What, then, could occasion conversations on 
that subject before that time? 

A. There was in 1754 a proposition made, (I think it 
came from hence,) that in case of a war, which was then 
apprehended, the governors of the colonies should meet, 
and order the levying of troops, building of forts, and 
taking every other necessary measure for the general de- 
fence ; and should draw on the treasury here for the sums 
expended, which were afterwards to be raised in the colo- 
nies by a general tax, to be laid on them by act of Parlia- 
ment. This occasioned a good deal of conversation on 
the subject ; and the general opinion was, that the Parlia- 
ment neither would nor could lay any tax on us, till we 
were duly represented in Parliament ; because it was not 
just, nor agreeable to the nature of an English constitution. 

54. Q. Don't you know there was a time in New 



278 FRANKLIN 

York, when it was under consideration to make an appli- 
cation to Parliament to lay taxes on that colony, upon a 
deficiency arising from the assembly's refusing or neglect- 
ing to raise the necessary supplies for the support of the 
civil government? 

A. I never heard of it. 

55. Q. There was such an application under con- 
sideration in New York ; and do you apprehend they 
could suppose the right of Parliament to lay a tax in 
America was only local, and confined to the case of a de- 
ficiency in a particular colony, by a refusal of its assembly 
to raise the necessary supplies ? 

A. They could not suppose such a case, as that the 
assembly would not raise the necessary supplies to sup- 
port its own government. An assembly that would re- 
fuse it must want common sense ; which cannot be sup- 
posed. I think there was never any such case at New 
York, and that it must be a misrepresentation, or the fact 
must be misunderstood. I know there have been some 
attempts, by ministerial instructions from hence, to oblige 
the assemblies to settle permanent salaries on governors, 
which they wisely refused to do ; but I believe no assem- 
bly of New York, or any other colony, ever refused duly 
to support government by proper allowances, from time 
to time, to public officers. 

56. Q. But, in case a governor, acting by instruction, 
should call on an assembly to raise the necessary supplies, 
and the assembly should refuse to do it, do you not think 
it would then be for the good of the people of the colony, 
as well as necessary to government, that the Parliament 
should tax them ? 

A. I do not think it would be necessary. If an assem- 
bly could possibly be so absurd, as to refuse raising the 
supplies requisite for the maintenance of government 
among them, they could not long remain in such a situa- 
tion ; the disorders and confusion occasioned by it must 
soon brinof them to reason. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 279 

57. Q. If it should not, ought not the right to be in 
Great Britain of applying a remedy ? 

A. A right, only to be used in such a case, I should 
have no objection to ; supposing it to be used merely for 
the good of the people of the colony. 

58. Q. But who is to judge of that, Britain or the 
colony ? 

A. Those that feel can best judge. 

59. Q. You say the colonies have always submitted 
to external taxes, and object to the right of Parliament 
only in laying internal taxes ; now can you show that 
there is any kind of difference between the two taxes to 
the colony on which they may be laid ? 

A. I think the difference is very great. An external 
tax is a duty laid on commodities imported ; that duty is 
added to the first cost and other charges on the commod- 
ity, and, when it is offered to sale, makes a part of the 
price. If the people do not like it at that price, they 
refuse it ; they are not obliged to pay it. But an internal 
tax is forced from the people without their consent, if not 
laid by their own representatives. The Stamp Act says, 
we shall have no commerce, make no exchange of prop- 
erty with each other, neither purchase, nor grant, nor 
recover debts ; we shall neither marry nor make our 
wills, unless we pay such and such sums ; and thus it is 
intended to extort our money from us, or ruin us by the 
consequences of refusing to pay it. 

60. Q. But supposing the external tax or duty to be 
laid on the necessaries of life, imported into your colony, 
will not that be the same thing in its effects as an internal 
tax? 

A. I do not know a single article imported into the 
northern colonies, but what they can either do without, 
or make themselves. 

61. Q. Don't you think cloth from England abso- 
lutely necessary to them. 

A. No, by no means absolutely necessary ; with indus- 



rSo FRANKLIN 

try and good management, thev may ycry \yoll supply 
themsehes with all they \vant. 

62, O. Will it not take a long; time to establish that 
manufacture among them ; and must they not in the mean 
while sutler greatly ? 

A. 1 think not. They haye made a surprising prog- 
ress already. And 1 am of opinion, that before their old 
clothes are worn out. they will haye new ones of their 
own making. 

03. 0. Can they possibly hnd wool enough in North 
America ? 

A. They haye taken steps to increase the wool. They 
entered into general combinations to eat no more lamb ; 
and yery tew lambs were killed last year. This course, 
persisted in. will soon make a prodigious difference in the 
quantity of wool. And the establishing of great manu- 
factories, like those in the clothing towns here, is not 
necessary, as it is where the business is to be carried on 
for the purposes of trade. The people will all spin, and 
>vork for theniselyes, in their own houses. 

64. 0- Can there be wool and manufacture enough in 
one or two years.' 

A. In three years, I think there may. 

65. ♦ O. Does not the seyerity of the winter, in the 
northern colonies, occasion the wool to be of bad quality ? 

A. No: the wool is yery fine and good. 

66. C. In the more southern colonies, as in Virginia, 
don't you know, that the wool is coarse, and only a kind 
of hair? 

A. I don't know it. I never heard it. Yet I haye 
been sometimes in Virginia. I cannot say 1 eyer took 
particular notice of the wool there, but I belieye it is 
good, though I cannot speak positively of it : but Virginia 
and the colonies south of it have less occasion for wool ; 
their winters are short, and not very seyere ; and they can 
very well clothe themselves with linen and cotton of their 
own raisina: for the rest of the year. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 28I 

6^. Q. Are not the people in the more northern 
colonies obliged to fodder their sheep all the winter? 

A. In some of the most northern colonies they may be 
obliged to do it, some part of the winter. 

68. Q. Considering the resolutions of Parliament, as 
to the right, do you think, if the Stamp Act is repealed, 
that the North Americans will be satisfied ? 

A. I believe they will. 

69. Q. Why do you think so? 

A. I think the resolutions of right will give them very 
little concern, if they are never attempted to be carried 
into practice. The colonies will probably consider them- 
selves in the same situation, in that respect, with Ireland ; 
they know you claim the same right with regard to Ire- 
land, but you never exercise it, and they may believe you 
never will exercise it in the colonies, any more than in 
Ireland, unless on some very extraordinary occasion. 

70. Q. But who arc to be the judges of that extraor- 
dinary occasion ? Is not the Parliament ? 

A. Though the Parliament may judge of the occasion, 
the people will think it can never exercise such right, till 
representatives from the colonies are admitted into Parlia- 
ment ; and that, whenever the occasion arises, representa- 
tives ivill be ordered. 

71. Q. Did you never hear that Marvland, during the 
last war, had refused to furnish a quota towards the com- 
mon defence? 

A. Marvland has been much misrepresented in that 
matter. Maryland, to my knowledge, never refused to 
contribute or grant aids to the crown. The assemblies, 
every year during the war, voted considerable sums, and 
formed bills to raise them. The bills were, according to 
the constitution of that province, sent up to the Council, 
or Upper House, for concurrence, that they might be 
presented to the governor, in order to be enacted into 
laws. Unhappy disputes between the two Houses, aris- 
ing from the defects of that constitution principally, 



2Sj franklin 

rendered all the bills but one or two. abortive. The 
proprietary's council rejected them. It is true, Maryland 
did not then contribute its proportion ; but it was, in my 
opinion, the fault ol the government, not of the people. 

~2. (J. Was it not talked of in the other provinces, as 
a proper measure, to applv to Parliament to compel them? 

A. I have heard such discourse; but. as it was well 
known that the people were not to blame, no such applica- 
tion was ever made, nor anv step taken towards it. 

7S- (?• Was it not proposed at a public meeting? 

A. Not that 1 know of. 

74. O. Do vou remember the abolishing of the paper 
currencv in New England, by act of assembly? 

A. I do remember its being abolished in the Massa- 
chusetts Bay. 

75. (J. Was not Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson 
principally concerned in that transaction ? 

A. I have heard so. 

76. Cj. Was it not at that time a verv unpopular law ? 
A. I believe it might, though I can say little about it, 

as I lived at a distance from that province. 

77- C- Was not the scarcitv of gold and silver an 
argument used against abolishing the paper ? 

A. I suppose it was. 

7S. (J. What is the present opinion there of that law? 
Is it as unpopular as it was at tirst ? 

A. I think it is not. 

79. 0. Have not instructions from hence been some- 
times sent over to governors, highly oppressive and unpo- 
litical ? 

A. Yes. 

80. cJ. Have not some governors dispensed with them 
for that reason ? 

A. Yes, I have heard so. 

81. Q- Did the Americans ever dispute the control- 
ling power of Parliament to regulate the commerce ? 

A. No. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 2S3 

82. ij. Can any thing less than a military force carry 
the Stamp Act into execution ? 

^. I do not see how a military force can be applied to 
that purpose. 

83. (J. Why may it not? 

A. Suppose a military force sent into America, thev 
will find nobody in arms; what are they then to do? 
They cannot force a man to take stamps who chooses to 
do without them. They will not find a rebellion ; they 
mav indeed make one. 

84. 0. If the act is not repealed, what do you think 
will be the consequences ? 

A. A total loss of the respect and affection the people 
of America bear to this country, and of all the commerce 
that depends on that respect and affection, 

85. Q. How can the commerce be affected ? 

A. You will find, that if the act is not repealed, they 
will take a very little of your manufactures in a short 
time. 

86. Q. Is it in their power to do without them ? 
A. I think thev may very well do without them. 
Sy. (J. Is it their interest not to take them ? 

A. The goods they take from Britain are either neces- 
saries, mere conveniences, or superfluities. The first, as 
cloth, etc.. with a little industrv they can make at home; 
the second they can do without, till they are able to 
provide them among themselves ; and the last, which are 
much the greatest part, thev will strike off immediately. 
They are mere articles of fashion, purchased and con- 
sumed because the fashion in a respected country ; but 
will now be detested and rejected. The people have al- 
ready struck off, by general agreement, the use of all 
goods fashionable in mournings, and many thousand 
pounds' worth are sent back as unsalable. 

88. Q. Is it their interest to make cloth at home? 

A. I think they may at present get it cheaper from 
Britain ; I mean, of the same fineness and workmanship ; 



->4 



FRANKLIN 



but. when one considers other circumstances, the restraints 
on their trade, and the ditficulty of making remittances, it 
is their interest to make every thing. 

89. (J. Suppose an act of internal regulations con- 
nected with a tax ; how would they receive it ? 

A. 1 think it would be objected to. 

90. Q. Then no regulation with a tax would be sub- 
mitted to? 

A. Their opinion is. that, when aids to the crown are 
wanted, thev are to be asked of the several assemblies, 
according to the old established usage ; who will, as they 
ahvavs have done, grant them freely. And that their 
nionev ought not to bo given away, without their consent, 
bv persons at a distance, unacquainted with their circum- 
stances and abilities. The granting aids to the crown is 
the onlv means they have of recommending themselves to 
their sovereign : and they think it extremely hard and un- 
just, that a bodv of men. in which they have no represen- 
tatives. should make a merit to itself of giving and grant- 
ing what is not its own. but theirs : and deprive them of a 
right thev esteem of the utmost value and importance, as 
it is the security of all their other rights. 

91. (^\ But is not the pc»st-office. which they have long 
received, a tax as well as a regulation ? 

A. No; the money paid for the postag^e of a letter is 
not of the nature of a tax ; it is merely a q-uaKtum m^nii 
for a service done ; no person is compellable to pay the 
money if he does not choose to receive the service. A 
man mav still, as before the act. send his letter by a ser- 
\*ant, a special messenger, or a friend, if he thinks it 
cheaper and safer. 

oj. (J. But do they not consider the regulations of 
the post-otfice. by the act of last year, as a tax ? 

A, Bv the regulations of last year the rate of postage 
was generallv abated near thirty per cent through all 
America ; thev certainly cannot consider such abatement 
«jr a tax. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 285 

93. Q. If an excise was laid by Parliament, which they 
might likewise avoid paying-, by not consuming the arti- 
cles excised, would they then not object to it? 

A. They would certainly object to it, as an excise is 
unconnected with any service done, and is merely an aid, 
which they think ought to be asked of them, and granted 
by them, if they are to pay it ; and can be granted for 
them by no others whatsoever, whom they have not em- 
powered for that purpose. 

94. Q. You say they do not object to the right of Par- 
liament, in laying duties on goods to be paid on their im- 
portation ; now, is there any kind of difference between a 
duty on the importation of goods, and an excise on their 
consumption ? 

A. Yes, a very material one ; an excise, for the reasons 
I have just mentioned, they think you can have no right 
to lay within their country. But the sea is yours ; you 
maintain, by your fleets, the safety of navigation in it, and 
keep it clear of pirates ; you may have, therefore, a natu- 
ral and equitable right to some toll or duty on merchan- 
dises carried through that part of your dominions, towards 
defraying the expense you are at in ships to maintain the 
safety of that carriage. 

95. Q. Does this reasoning hold in the case of a duty 
laid on the produce of their lands exported ? And would 
they not then object to such a duty ? 

A. If it tended to make the produce so much dearer 
abroad, as to lessen the demand for it, to be sure they 
would object to such a duty; not to your right of laying 
it, but they would complain of it as a burden, and petition 
you to lighten it. 

96. Q. Is not the duty paid on the tobacco exported, 
a duty of that kind ? 

A. That, I think, is only on tobacco carried coast- 
wise, from one colony to another, and appropriated as a 
fund for supporting the college at Williamsburg in Vir- 
ginia. 



2S6 FRANKLIN 

97. O. Have not the assemblies in the West Indies the 
same natural rights with those in North America? 

A. Undoubtedly. 

9S. O. And is there not a tax laid there on their sug^ars 
exported ? 

A. I am not much acquainted with the West Indies : 
but the dutv of four and a half per cent on sugars exported 
was. I believe, granted by their own assemblies. 

09. O. How much is the poll-tax in your province 
laid on unmarried men ? 

A. It is. I think, hfteen shillings, to be paid by every 
single freeman, upwards of twenty-one years old. 

ICO. C' What is the annual amount oi all the taxes in 
Pennsvlvania ? 

A. I suppose about twenty thousand pounds sterling. 

ID I. (J. Supposing the Stamp Act continued and en- 
forced, do you imagine that ill humor will induce the 
Americans to give as much for worse manufactures of 
their own. and use them, preferable to better of ours? 

A. Yes. I think so. People will pay as freely to grat- 
ify one passion as another, their resentment as their 
pride. 

10:!. 0. Would the people at Boston discontinue their 
trade? 

A. The merchants are a verv small number compared 
with the body of the people, and must discontinue their 
trade, if nobody will buy their goods. 

103. O. What are the body of the people in the colo- 
nies ? 

--1. They are farmers, husbandmen, orplanters- 

104. (J. Would they suffer the produce of their lands 
to rot ? 

A. Xo : but they would not raise so much. Thev 
would manufacture more, and plough less. 

105. (J. Would they live without the administration 
of justice in civil matters, and suffer all the inconveniences 
of such a situation for anv considerable time, rather than 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 287 

take the stamps, supposing the stamps were protected by 
a sufficient force, where every one might have them ? 

A. I think the supposition impracticable, that the 
stamps should be so protected as that every one might 
have them. The act requires sub-distributors to be ap- 
pointed in every county town, district, and village, and 
they would be necessary. But the principal distributors, 
who were to have had a considerable profit on the whole, 
have not thought it worth while to continue in the office ; 
and I think it impossible to find sub-distributors fit to 
be trusted, who, for the trifling profit that must come to 
their share, would incur the odium, and run the hazard, 
that would attend it; and, if they could be found, I think 
it impracticable to protect the stamps in so many distant 
and remote places. 

106. O. But in places where they could be protected, 
would not the people use them, rather than remain in such 
a situation, unable to obtain any right, or recover by law 
any debt? 

A. It is hard to say what they would do. I can only 
judge what other people will think, and how they will 
act, by what I feel within myself. I have a great many 
debts due to me in America, and I had rather they should 
remain unrecoverable by any law, than submit to the 
Stamp Act. They will be debts of honor. It is my 
opinion the people will either continue in that situation. 
or find some way to extricate themselves ; perhaps by 
generally agreeing to proceed in the courts without 
stamps. 

107. Q. What do you think a sufficient military force 
to protect the distribution of the stamps in every part of 
America? 

A. A very great force, I can't say what, if the disposi- 
tion of America is for a general resistance. 

108. Q. What is the number of men in America able 
to bear arms, or of disciplined militia? 

A. There are, I suppose, at least .... 



288 FRANKLIN 

{Question objected to. He withdrew. Called in again?^ 

109. Q. Is the American Stamp Act an equal tax on 
the country ? 

A. I think not. 

1 10. Q. Why so ? 

A. The greatest part of the money must arise from 
lawsuits for the recovery of debts, and be paid by the 
lower sort of people, who were too poor easily to pay 
their debts. It is, therefore, a heavy tax on the poor, and 
a tax upon them for being poor. 

111. Q. But will not this increase of expense be a 
means of lessening the number of lawsuits? 

A. I think not ; for as the costs all fall upon the debtor, 
and are to be paid by him, they would be no discourage- 
ment to the creditor to bring his action. 

112. Q. Would it not have the effect of excessive 
usury ? 

A. Yes ; as an oppression of the debtor. 

113. Q. How many ships are there laden annually in 
North America with flax-seed for Ireland ? 

A. I cannot speak to the number of ships; but I know, 
that, in 1752, ten thousand hogsheads of flax-seed, each 
containing seven bushels, were exported from Philadelphia 
to Ireland. I suppose the quantity is greatly increased 
since that time, and it is understood, that the exportation 
from New York is equal to that from Philadelphia. 

114. Q. What becomes of the flax that grows with 
that flax-seed ? 

A. They manufacture some into coarse, and some into 
a middling kind of linen. 

115. Q. Are there any slitting-mills in America? 

A. I think there are three, but I believe only one at 
present employed. I suppose they will all be set to work, 
if the interruption of the trade continues. 

116. Q. Are there any fulling-mills there? 
A. A great many. 

117. Q. Did you never hear, that a great quantity of 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 289 

stockings were contracted for, for the army, during the 
war, and manufactured in Philadelphia? 
A. I have heard so. 

118. Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, would 
not the Americans think they could oblige the Parliament 
to repeal every external tax law now in force ? 

A. It is hard to answer questions of what people at 
such a distance will think. 

119. Q. But what do you imagine they will think 
were the motives of repealing the act ? 

A. I suppose they will think, that it was repealed from 
a conviction of its inexpediency ; and they will rely upon 
it, that, while the same inexpediency subsists, you will 
never attempt to make such another. 

120. Q. What do you mean by its inexpediency? 

A. I mean its inexpediency on several accounts; the 
poverty and inability of those who were to pay the tax, 
the general discontent it has occasioned, and the impracti- 
cability of enforcing it. 

121. Q. If the act should be repealed, and the legisla- 
ture should show its resentment to the opposers of the 
Stamp Act, would the colonies acquiesce in the authority 
of the legislature ? What is your opinion they would do ? 

A. I don't doubt at all, that if the legislature repeal the 
Stamp Act, the colonies will acquiesce in the authority. 

122. Q. But if the legislature should think fit to ascer- 
tain its right to lay taxes, by any act laying a small tax, 
contrary to their opinion, would they submit to pay the 
tax? 

A. The proceedings of the people in America have 
been considered too much together. The proceedings of 
the assemblies have been very different from those of the 
mobs, and should be distinguished, as having no connexion 
with each other. The assemblies have only peaceably 
resolved what they take to be their rights ; they have 
taken no measures for opposition by force, they have not 
built a fort, raised a man, or provided a grain of ammuni- 
19 



290 



FRANKLIN 



tion, in order to such opposition. The ringleaders of 
riots, they think ought to be punished ; they would punish 
them themselves, if they could. Every sober, sensible 
man, would wish to see rioters punished, as, otherwise, 
peaceable people have no security of person or estate ; 
but as to an internal tax, how small soever, laid by the 
legislature here on the people there, while they have no 
representatives in this legislature, I think it will never be 
submitted to ; they will oppose it to the last ; they do not 
consider it as at all necessary for you to raise money on 
them by your taxes ; because they are, and always have 
been, ready to raise money by taxes among themselves, 
and to grant large sums, equal to their abilities, upon 
requisition from the crown. 

They have not only granted equal to their abilities, 
but, during all the last war, they granted far beyond their 
abilities, and beyond their proportion with this country 
(you yourselves being judges), to the amount of many 
hundred thousand pounds ; and this they did freely and 
readily, only on a sort of promise, from the Secretary of 
State, that it should be recommended to Parliament to 
make them compensation. It was accordingly recom- 
mended to Parliament, in the most honorable manner for 
them. America has been greatly misrepresented and 
abused here, in papers, and pamphlets, and speeches, as 
ungrateful, and unreasonable, and unjust; in having put 
this nation to an immense expense for their defence, and 
refusing to bear any part of that expense. The colonies 
raised, paid, and clothed near twenty-five thousand men 
during the last war; a number equal to those sent from 
Britain, and far beyond their proportion ; they went 
deeply into debt in doing this, and all their taxes and 
estates are mortgaged for many years to come, for dis- 
charging that debt. 

Government here was at that time very sensible of 
this. The colonies were recommended to Parliament. 
Every year the King sent down to the House a written 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



291 



message to this purpose ; " that his Majesty, being highly 
sensible of the zeal and vigor with which his faithful sub- 
jects in North America had exerted themselves, in defence 
of his Majesty's just rights and possessions, recommended 
it to the House to take the same into consideration, and 
enable him to give them a proper compensation." You 
will find those messages on your own journals every year 
of the war to the very last ; and you did accordingly give 
two hundred thousand pounds annually to the crown, to 
be distributed in such compensation to the colonies. 

This is the strongest of all proofs, that the colonies, far 
from being unwilling to bear a share of the burden, did 
exceed their proportion ; for if they had done less, or had 
only equalled their proportion, there would have been no 
room or reason for compensation. Indeed, the sums, re- 
imbursed them, were by no means adequate to the expense 
they incurred beyond their proportion ; but they never 
murmured at that ; they esteemed their sovereign's appro- 
bation of their zeal and fidelity, and the approbation of 
this House, far beyond any other kind of compensation ; 
therefore there was no occasion for this act, to force money 
from a willing people. They had not refused giving 
money for the purposes of the act ; no requisition had 
been made ; they were always willing and ready to do 
what could reasonably be expected from them, and in this 
light they wish to be considered. 

123. Q. But suppose Great Britain should be engaged 
in a war in Europe, would North America contribute to 
the support of it? 

A. I do think they would as far as their circumstances 
would permit. They consider themselves as a part of the 
British empire, and as having one common interest with 
it ; they may be looked on here as foreigners, but they do 
not consider themselves as such. They are zealous for 
the honor and prosperity of this nation ; and, while they 
are well used, will always be ready to support it, as far as 
their little power goes. In 1739 they were called upon 



292 



FRANKLIN 



to assist in the expedition against Carthagena, and they 
sent three thousand men to join your army. It is true, 
Carthagena is in America, but as remote from the north- 
ern colonies, as if it had been in Europe. They make no 
distinction of wars, as to their duty of assisting in them. 

I know the last war is commonly spoken of here, as en- 
tered into for the defence, or for the sake, of the people 
in America. I think it is quite misunderstood. It began 
about the limits between Canada and Nova Scotia ; about 
territories to which the crown indeed laid claim, but which 
were not claimed by any British colony; none of the lands 
had been granted to any colonist ; we had therefore no 
particular concern or interest in that dispute. As to the 
Ohio, the contest there began about your right of trading 
in the Indian countr}-, a right you had by the treaty of 
Utrecht, which the French infringed ; they seized the 
traders and their goods, which were your manufactures ; 
they took a fort which a company of your merchants, and 
their factors, and correspondents, had erected there to 
secure that trade. Braddock was sent with an army to 
retake that fort, (which was looked on here as another en- 
croachment on the King's territory,) and to protect your 
trade. It was not till after his defeat that the colonies 
were attacked. They were before in perfect peace with 
both French and Indians; the troops were not, therefore, 
sent for their defence. 

The trade with the Indians, though carried on in Amer- 
ica, is not an x\merican interest. The people of America 
are chiefly farmers and planters ; scarce any thing that 
thev raise or produce is an article of commerce with the 
Indians. The Indian trade is a British interest ; it is car- 
ried on with British manufactures, for the profit of British 
merchants and manufacturers ; therefore the war, as it 
commenced for the defence of territories of the crown 
(the propert}'^ of no American), and for the defence of a 
trade purel}'^ British, was really a British war, and yet the 
people of America made no scruple of contributing their 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 293 

utmost towards carrying it on, and bringing it to a happy 
conclusion. 

124. Q. Do you think, then, that the taking possession 
of the King's territorial rights, and strengthening the fron- 
tiers, is not an American interest? 

A. Not particularly, but conjointly a British and an 
American interest. 

125. Q. You will not deny that the preceding war, 
the war with Spain, was entered into for the sake of 
America ; was it not occasioned by captures made in the 
American seas ? 

A. Yes; captures of ships carrying on the British trade 
there with British manufactures. 

126. Q. Was not the late war with the Indians, since 
the peace with France, a war for America only? 

A. Yes ; it was more particularly for America than the 
former ; but was rather a consequence or remains of the 
former war, the Indians not having been thoroughly paci- 
fied ; and the Americans bore by much the greatest share 
of the expense. It was put an end to by the army under 
General Bouquet ; there were not above three hundred 
regulars in that army, and above one thousand Pennsyl- 
vanians. 

127. Q. Is it not necessary to send troops to America, 
to defend the Americans against the Indians? 

A. No, by no means; it never was necessary. They 
defended themselves when they were but a handful, and 
the Indians much more numerous. They continually 
gained ground, and have driven the Indians over the 
mountains, without any troops sent to their assistance 
from this country. And can it be thought necessary now 
to send troops for their defence from those diminished In- 
dian tribes, when the colonies have become so populous 
and so strong ? There is not the least occasion for it ; 
they are very able to defend themselves. 

128. Q. Do you say there were not more than three 
hundred regular troops employed in the late Indian war? 



294 



FRANKLIN 



A. NeH on the Ohio, or the frontiers of Pennsylvania, 
which was the chief part of the war that affected the 
colonies. There were garrisons at Niagara. Fort Detroit, 
and those remote posts kept for the sake of your trade ; I 
did not reckon thcin; but I believe, that on the whole the 
number of Americans or provincial troops, employed in 
the war, was greater than that of the regulars. I am not 
certain, but I think so. 

129. Q. Do vou think the assemblies have a right to 
levy monev on the subject there, to grant to the crown? 

A. I certainlv think so; thev have always done it. 

130. (J. Arc thev acquainted with the Declaration of 
Rights? And do they know that, by that statute, money 
is not to be raised on the subject but by consent of Parlia- 
ment? 

A. They are verv well acquainted with it. 

131. (J. How then can they think they have a right 
to levy money for the crown, or for any other than local 
purposes ? 

A. They understand that clause to relate to subjects 
only within the realm ; that no money can be levied on 
them for the crown, but by consent of Parliament. The 
colonies are not supposed to be within the realm ; they 
have assemblies of their own, which are their parliaments, 
and thev are, in that respect, in the same situation with 
Ireland. When money is to be raised for the crown upon 
the subject in Ireland, or in the colonics, the consent is 
criven in the Parliament of Ireland, or in tiie assemblies of 
the colonies. Thev think the Parliament of Great Britain 
cannot properlv give that consent, till it has representa- 
tives from America ; for the Petition of Right expresslv 
savs. it is to be bv common consent in Parliament : and 
the people of America have no representatives in Parlia- 
ment, to make a part of that common consent. 

132. (J. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, and an 
act should pass, ordering the assemblies of the colonies to 
indemnifv the sufferers by the riots, would they obev it? 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



295 



A. That is a question I cannot answer. 

133- Q- Suppose the King should require the colonies 
to grant a revenue, and the Parliament should be against 
their doing it, do they think they can grant a revenue to 
the King, without the consent of the Parliament of Great 
Britain ? 

A. That is a deep question. As to my own opinion, I 
should think myself at liberty to do it, and should do it, 
if I liked the occasion. 

134. Q. When money has been raised in the colonies, 
upon requisitions, has it not been granted to the King? 

A. Yes, always; but the requisitions have generally 
been for some service expressed, as to raise, clothe, and 
pay troops, and not for money only. 

135- Q- If the act should pass requiring the American 
assemblies to make compensation to the sufferers, and 
they should disobey it, and then the Parliament should, by 
another act, lay an internal tax, would they then obey it? 

A. The people will pay no internal tax; and, I think, 
an act to oblige the assemblies to make compensation is 
unnecessary ; for I am of opinion, that, as soon as the 
present heats are abated, they will take the matter into 
consideration, and if it is right to be done, they will do it 
of themselves. 

136. Q. Do not letters often come into the post-offices 
in America, directed to some inland town where no post 
goes? 

A. Yes. 

137- Q- Can any private person take up those letters 
and carry them as directed ? 

A. Yes; any friend of the person may do it, paying 
the postage that has accrued. 

138. Q. But must not he pay an additional postage 
for the distance to such inland town ? 

A. No. 

139- Q- Can the postmaster answer delivering the 
letter, without being paid such additional postage ? 



296 



FRANKLIN 



A. Certainly he can demand nothing, where he does 
no service. 

140. Q. Suppose a person, being far from home, finds 
a letter in a post-office directed to him, and he lives in a 
place to which the post generally goes, and the letter is 
directed to that place ; will the postmaster deliver him the 
letter, without his paying the postage receivable at the 
place to which the letter is directed ? 

A. Yes; the office cannot demand postage for a letter 
that it does not carry, or farther than it does carry it. 

141. Q. Are not ferry-men in America obliged, by act 
of Parliament, to carry over the posts without pay ? 

A. Yes. 

142. Q. Is not this a tax on the ferry-men ? 

A. They do not consider it as such, as they have an 
advantage from persons travelling with the post. 

143. Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, and the 
crown should make a requisition to the colonies for a sum 
of money, would they grant it? 

A. I believe they would. 

144. Q. Why do you think so? 

A. I can speak for the colony I live in; I had it in 
ijistruction from the assembly to assure the ministry, that, 
as they always had done, so they should always think it 
their duty, to grant such aids to the crown as were suit- 
able to their circumstances and abilities, whenever called 
upon for that purpose, in the usual constitutional manner; 
and I had the honor of communicating this instruction to 
that honorable gentleman then minister. 

145. Q. Would they do this for a British concern, as 
suppose a war in some part of Europe, that did not affect 
them ? 

A. Yes, for any thing that concerned the general 
interest. They consider themselves a part of the whole. 

146. Q. What is the usual constitutional manner of 
calling on the colonies for aids ? 

A. A letter from the Secretary of State. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



297 



147. Q. Is this all you mean ; a letter from the Secre- 
tary of State ? 

A. I mean the usual way of requisition, in a circular 
letter from the Secretary of State, by his Majesty's com- 
mand, reciting the occasion, and recommending it to the 
colonies to grant such aids as became their loyalty, and 
were suitable to their abilities. 

148. Q. Did the Secretary of State ever write for 
money for the crown ? 

A. The requisitions have been to raise, clothe, and pay 
men, which cannot be done without money. 

149. Q. Would they grant money alone, if called on ? 
A. In my opinion they would, money as well as men, 

when they have money, or can make it. 

150. Q. If the Parliament should repeal the Stamp 
Act, will the assembly of Pennsylvania rescind their reso- 
lutions? 

A. I think not. 

151. Q. Before there was any thought of the Stamp 
Act, did they wish for a representation in Parliament ? 

A. No. 

152. Q. Don't you know, that there is, in the Penn- 
sylvania charter, an express reservation of the right of 
Parliament to lay taxes there ? 

A. I know there is a clause in the charter, by which 
the King grants, that he will levy no taxes on the inhabit- 
ants, unless it be with the consent of the assembly, or by 
act of Parliament. 

153. Q. How, then, could the assembly of Pennsylva- 
nia assert, that laying a tax on them by the Stamp Act was 
an infringement of their rights? 

A. They understand it thus ; by the same charter, and 
otherwise, they are entitled to all the privileges and liber- 
ties of Englishmen ; they find in the Great Charters, and 
the Petition and Declaration of Rights, that one of the 
privileges of English subjects is, that they are not to be 
taxed but by their common consent ; they have therefore 



29S 



FRANKLIN 



relied upon it, from the first settlement of the province, 
that the Parliament never would, nor could, by color of 
that clause in the charter, assume a right of taxing them, 
till it had qualified itself to exercise such right, by admit- 
ting representatives from the people to be taxed, who 
ought to make a part of that common consent. 

154. O. Are there any words in the charter that jus- 
tif}' that construction ? 

A. ** The common rights of Englishmen," as declared 
by ]\Tagna Charta, and the Petition of Right, all justify it. 

155. Q. Does the distinction between internal and ex- 
ternal taxes exist in the words of the charter? 

A. No, I believe not. 

156. Q. Then, may they not, by the same interpreta- 
tion, object to the Parliament's right of external taxa- 
tion ? 

A. Thev never have hitherto. Manv arguments have 
been latelv used here to show them, that there is no differ- 
ence, and that, if you have no right to tax them internally, 
you have none to tax them externally, or make any other 
law to bind them. At present they do not reason so ; but 
in time the}' may possibly be convinced by these argu- 
ments. 

157. 0. Do not the resolutions of the Pennsylvania 
assemblv sav, " all taxes " ? 

A. If thev do, they mean only internal taxes ; the same 
words have not alwavs the same meaning here and in the 
colonies. Bv taxes, thev mean internal taxes ; by duties, 
they mean customs ; these are their ideas of the lan- 
guage. 

158. 0. Have you not seen the resolutions of the Mas- 
sachusetts Bay assembly ? 

A. I have. 

159. Q. Do thev not sav, that neither external nor in- 
ternal taxes can be laid on them by Parliament? 

A. I don't know that they do ; I believe not. 

160. Q. If the same colony should say, neither tax nor 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENXE 



299 



imposition could be laid, docs not that province hold the 
power of Parliament can lay neither? 

A. I suppose, that, by the word imposition, they do not 
intend to express duties to be laid on goods imported, as 
regulations of commerce. 

161. Q. What can the colonies mean then by imposi- 
tion, as distinct from taxes? 

A. They may mean many things, as impressing of men 
or of carriages, quartering troops on private houses, and 
the like ; there may be great impositions that are not 
properly taxes. 

162. Q. Is not the post-office rate an internal tax laid 
by act of Parliament? 

A. I have answered that. 

163. Q. Are all parts of the colonies equally able to 
pay taxes? 

A. No certainly ; the frontier parts, which have been 
ravaged by the enemy, are greatly disabled by that means ; 
and therefore, in such cases, are usually favored in our tax 
laws. 

164. Q. Can we, at this distance, be competent judges 
of what favors are necessary? 

A. The Parliament have supposed it, by claiming a 
right to make tax laws for America; I think it impos- 
sible. 

165. Q. Would the repeal of the Stamp Act h>e any 
discouragement of your manufactures ? Will the people 
that have begun to manufacture decline it? 

A. Yes, I think they will ; especially if, at the same 
time, the trade is opened again, so that remittances can be 
easily made. I have known several instances that make it 
probable. In the war before last, tobacco being low, and 
making little remittance, the people of Virginia went gen- 
erally into family manufactures. Afterwards, when to- 
bacco bore a better price, they returned to the use of 
British manufactures. So fulling-mills were very much 
disused in the last war in Pennsylvania, because bills were 



300 FRANKLIN 

then plenty, and remittances could easily be made to 
Britain for English cloth and other goods. 

i66, Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, would 
it induce the assemblies of America to acknowledge the 
rights of Parliament to tax them, and would they erase 
their resolutions ? 

A. No, never. 

167. Q. Are there no means of obliging them to erase 
those resolutions? 

A. None that 1 know of ; they will never do it, unless 
compelled by force of arms. 

168. Q. Is there a power on earth that can force them 
to erase them ? 

A. No power, how great soever, can force men to 
change their opinions. 

169. Q. Do they consider the post-office as a tax, or 
as a regulation ? 

A. Not as a tax, but as a regulation and conveniency ; 
every assembly encouraged it, and supported it in its in- 
fancy, by grants of monev, which they would not other- 
wise have done ; and the people have always paid the 
postage. 

170. O. When did you receive the instructions you 
mentioned ? 

A. I brought them with me, when I came to England, 
about fifteen months since. 

171. O. When did you commimicate that instruction 
to the minister ? 

A. Soon after mv arrival, while the stamping of Amer- 
ica was under consideration, and before the bill was 
brought in. 

172. (J. Would it be most for the interest of Great 
Britain, to employ the hands of Virginia in tobacco, or in 
manufactures ? 

A. In tobacco, to be sure. 

173. Q. What used to be the pride of the Ameri- 
cans ? 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 301 

A. To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of 
Great Britain. 

174. Q. What is now their pride? 

A. To wear their old clothes over again, till they can 
make new ones. 

The repeal of the Stamp Act became a law March 18, 1766. 

TO MRS. DEBORAH FRANKLIN 

London, 6 April, 1766. 

As the Stamp Act is at length repealed, I am willing 
you should have a new gown, which you may suppose I 
did not send sooner, as 1 knew you would not like to be 
finer than your neighbours, unless in a gown of your own 
spinning. Had the trade between the two countries 
totally ceased, it was a comfort to me to recollect, that 
I had once been clothed from head to foot in woollen and 
linen of my wife's manufacture, that I never was prouder 
of any dress in my life, and that she and her daughter 
might do it again if it was necessary. I told the Parlia- 
ment, that it was my opinion, before the old clothes of the 
Americans were worn out, they might have new ones of 
their own making. I have sent you a fine piece of Pom- 
padour satin, fourteen yards, cost eleven shillings a yard ; 
a silk negligee and petticoat of brocaded lutestring for my 
dear Sally, with two dozen gloves, four bottles of laven- 
der water, and two little reels. The reels are to screw on 
the edge of the table, when she would wind silk or thread. 
The skein is to be put over them, and winds better than 
if held in two hands. There is also a gimcrack corkscrew^ 
which you must get some brother gimcrack to show you 
the use of. In the chest is a parcel of books for my friend 
Mr. Coleman, and another for cousin Colbert. Pray did 
he receive those I sent him before? I send you also a 
box with three fine cheeses. Perhaps a bit of them may 
be left when I come home. Mrs. Stevenson has been very 



302 



FRANKLIN 



ililigcnt niui serviceable in getting these things together 
ior vou. and picscnts her best respects, as does her daugh- 
ter, to both vou and Sally. There are two boxes included 
in vour bill of lading for Billy. 

1 ani. niv dear Dcbby, vour atlcctionate husband, 

B. Franklin. 

TO JOHN ALLEVNE 

Craven St., 9 August, 1768. 

You desire, vou say, my impartial thoughts on the 
subject of an early marriage, by way of answer to the 
numberless objections that have been made by numerous 
persons to your own. You may remember, when you 
consulted me on the occasion, that I thought youth on 
both sides to be no objection. Indeed, from the marriages 
that have fallen under my observation, I am rather in- 
clined to think, that early ones stand the best chance of 
happiness. The temper and habits of the young are not 
become so stiflf and uncomplving, as when more advanced 
in life ; thev form more easily to each other, and hence 
manv occasions of disgust are removed. And, if youth 
has less of that prudence, which is necessary to manage a 
family, yet the parents and elder friends of young married 
persons are gcnorallv at hand to afford their advice, which 
amplv supplies that defect ; and. by early marriage, youth 
is sooner formed to regular and useful life : and possibly 
some of those accidents or connexions, that might have 
injured the constitution, or reputation, or both, are there- 
by happilv prevented. 

Particular circumstances of particular persons may 
possibly sometimes make it prudent to delay entering 
into that state ; but in general, when nature has rendered 
our bodies tit for it. the presumption is in nature's favor, 
that she has not judged amiss in making us desire it. Late 
marriages are often attended, too, with this further incon- 
venience, that there is not the same chance that the par- 
ents will live to see their offspring educated, '' Late chil- 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



303 



dren^' says the Spanish proverb, " are early orphans^ A 
melancholy reflection to those, whose case it may be! 
With us in America, marriages are generally in the morn- 
ing of life; our children are therefore educated and set- 
tled in the world by noon ; and thus, our business being 
done, we have an afternoon and evening of cheerful leisure 
to ourselves ; such as our friend at present enjoys. By 
these early marriages we are blessed with more children ; 
and from the mode among us, founded by nature, every 
mother suckling and nursing her own child, more of them 
are raised. Thence the swift progress of population among 
us, unparalleled in Europe. 

In fine, I am glad you are married, and congratulate 
you most cordially upon it. You are now in the way of 
becoming a useful citizen ; and you have escaped the un- 
natural state of celibacy for life, the fate of many here, 
who never intended it, but who, having too long post- 
poned the change of their condition, find at length, that it 
is too late to think of it, and so live all their lives in a 
situation that greatly lessens a man's value. An odd vol- 
ume of a set of books bears not the value of its propor- 
tion to the set. What think you of the odd half of a pair 
of scissors? It cannot well cut any thing; it may pos- 
sibly serve to scrape a trencher. 

Pray make my compliments and best wishes accept- 
able to your bride. I am old and heavy, or I should ere 
this have presented them in person. I shall make but 
small use of the old man's privilege, that of giving advice 
to younger friends. Treat your wife always with respect ; 
it will procure respect to you, not only from her, but from 
all that observe it. Never use a slighting expression to 
her, even in jest, for slights in jest, after frequent bandy- 
ings, are apt to end in angry earnest. Be studious in 
your profession, and you will be learned. Be industrious 
and frugal, and you will be rich. Be sober and temper- 
ate, and you will be healthy. Be in general virtuous, and 
you will be happy. At least, you will, by such conduct, 



3^4 



FRANKLIN 



Stand the best chance for such consequences. I pray God 
to bless vou both ; being- ever your affectionate friend, 

B. Franklin. 

The following piece from Dr. Franklin's pen appeared anonymously 
in the " London rublic Advertiser" in 1773. 1^ ^^"^^ reprinted in several 
papers, and in the " Gentleman's Mag"vizine " for September, 1773. 

RULES BY WHICH A GREAT EMTIRE MAY BE REDUCED 
TO A S^L\LL ONE 

An ancient sage valued himself upon this, that, though 
he could not tiddle, he knew how to make a great cit}' of 
a little one. The science that I, a modern simpleton, am 
about to communicate, is the very reverse. 

I address myself to all ministers who have the manage- 
ment of extensive dominions, which from their very great- 
ness have become troublesome to govern, because the mul- 
tiplicitv of their affairs leaves no time tor fiddling. 

1. In the first place. Gentlemen, you are to consider, 
that a great empire, like a great cake, is most easily 
diminished at the edges. Turn vour attention, therefore, 
first to vour re-n.\^tc-st provinces ; that, as vou get rid of 
them, the next may follow in order. 

2. That the possibility of this separation mav alwavs 
exist, take special care the provinces are f/f-:vr incorperatcJ 
zvith the mot/ic^r ccuntrv ; that thev do not enjoy the same 
common rights, the same privileges in commerce ; and 
that thev are governed by severer laws, all of your enact- 
ing, without allowing them anv share in the choice of the 
legislators. Bv carefully making and preserving such 
distinctions, vou will i^to keep to my simile of the cake'i 
act like a wise gingerbread-baker, who. to facilitate a 
division, cuts his dough half through in those places 
where, when baked, he would have it broken to pieces. 

3. Those remote provinces have perhaps been acquired, 
purchased, or conquered, at the sole expense of the set- 
tlers, or their ancestors: without the aid of the mother 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 305 

country. If this should happen to increase her strength, 
by their growing numbers, ready to join in her wars ; her 
commerce, by their growing demand for her manufac- 
tures ; or her naval power, by greater employment for 
her ships and seamen, they may probably suppose some 
merit in this, and that it entitles them to some favor ; you 
are therefore to forget it all, or resent it, as if they had 
done you injury. If they happen to be zealous whigs, 
friends of liberty, nurtured in revolution principles, re- 
member all that to their prejudice, and contrive to punish 
it ; for such principles, after a revolution is thoroughly 
established, are of no more use ; they are even odious and 
abominable. 

4. However peaceably your colonies have submitted 
to your government, shown their affection to your inter- 
ests, and patiently borne their grievances ; you are to 
suppose them always inclined to revolt, and treat them ac- 
cordingly. Quarter troops among them, who by their 
insolence may provoke the rising of mobs, and by their 
bullets and bayonets suppress them. By this means, like 
the husband who uses his wife ill from suspicion, you may 
in time convert your suspicions into realities. 

5. Remote provinces must have governors and judges, 
to represent the royal person, and execute everywhere the 
delegated parts of his office and authority. You ministers 
know, that much of the strength of government depends 
on the opinion of the people ; and much of that opinion 
on the choice of rulers \>\^ced immediately over them. If 
you send them wise and good men for governors, who 
study the interest of the colonists, and advance their pros- 
perity ; they will think their King wise and good, and 
that he wishes the welfare of his subjects. If you send 
them learned and upright men for judges, they will think 
him a lover of justice. This may attach your provinces 
more to his government. You are therefore to be care- 
ful whom you recommend to those offices. If you can 
find prodigals, who have ruined their fortunes, broken 

20 



3o6 FRANKLIN 

gamesters or stockjobbers, these may do well as gover- 
nors ; for they will probably be rapacious, and provoke 
the people by their extortions. Wrangling proctors and 
pettifogging lawyers, too, are not amiss ; for they will be 
for ever disputing and quarrelling with their little Parlia- 
ments. If withal they should be ignorant, wrongheaded, 
and insolent, so much the better. Attorneys' clerks and 
Newgate solicitors will do for chief justices, especially if 
they hold their places during your pleasure ; and all will 
contribute to impress those ideas of your government, 
that are proper for a people you would wish to re- 
nounce it. 

6. To confirm these impressions, and strike them 
deeper, whenever the injured come to the capital with 
complaints of mal-administration, oppression, or injustice, 
ptinish sjich suitors with long delay, enormous expense, and 
a final judgment in favor of the oppressor. This will 
have an admirable effect every way. The trouble of 
future complaints will be prevented, and governors and 
judges will be encouraged to farther acts of oppression 
and injustice; and thence the people may become more 
disaffected, and at length desperate. 

7. When such governors have crammed their cofifers, 
and made themselves so odious to the people that they 
can no longer remain among them, with safety to their 
persons, recall and reward them with pensions. You may 
make them baronets too, if that respectable order should 
not think fit to resent it. All will contribute to encourage 
new governors in the same practice, and make the supreme 
government detestable. 

8. If, when you are engaged in war, your colonies 
should vie in liberal aids of men and money against the 
common enemy, upon your simple requisition, and give 
far beyond their abilities, reflect that a penny taken from 
them by your power is more honorable to you, than a 
pound presented by their benevolence ; despise therefore 
their voluntary grants, and resolve to harass them with 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



307 



novel taxes. They will probably complain to your Parlia- 
ment, that they are taxed by a body in which they have 
no representative, and that this is contrary to common 
right. They will petition for redress. Let the Parlia- 
ment flout their claims, reject their petitions, refuse even 
to suffer the reading of them, and treat the petitioners 
with the utmost contempt. Nothing can have a better 
effect in producing the alienation proposed ; for, though 
many can forgive injuries, none ever forgave contempt. 

9. In laying these taxes, never regard the heavy burdens 
those remote people already undergo, in defending their 
own frontiers, supporting their own provincial govern- 
ment, making new roads, building bridges, churches, and 
other public edifices ; which in old countries have been 
done to your hands by 3'our ancestors, but which occasion 
constant calls and demands on the purses of a new people. 
Forget the restraint you lay on their trade for your own 
benefit, and the advantage a monopoly of this trade gives 
your exacting merchants. Think nothing of the wealth 
those merchants and your manufacturers acquire by the 
colony commerce ; their increased ability thereby to pay 
taxes at home ; their accumulating, in the price of their 
commodities, most of those taxes, and so levying them 
from their consuming customers ; all this, and the employ- 
ment and support of thousands of your poor by the colo- 
nists, you are entirely to forget. But remember to make 
your arbitrary tax more grievous to your provinces, by 
public declarations importing that your power of taxing 
them has no limits ; so that, when you take from them 
without their consent a shilling in the pound, you have a 
clear right to the other nineteen. This will probably 
weaken every idea of security in their property, and con- 
vince them, that under such a government they have 
nothing they can call their own ; which can scarce fail of 
producing the happiest consequences ! 

10. Possibly, indeed, some of them might still comfort 
themselves, and say, " Though we have no property, we 



3oS FRANKLIN 

have yet somethings left that is valuable ; we have consti- 
tutional liberty, both of person and of conscience. This King-, 
these Lords, and these Commons, who it seems are too 
remote from us to know us, and feel for us, cannot take 
from us our Habeas Corpus right, or our right of trial by 
a jury of our neighbours ; they cannot deprive us of the 
exercise of our religion, alter our ecclesiastical constitu- 
tion, and compel us to be Papists, if they please, or Mahom- 
etans," To annihilate this comfort, begin by laws to per- 
plex their commerce with infinite regulations, impossible 
to be remembered and observed ; ordain seizures of their 
property for every failure ; take away the trial of such 
property by jury, and give it to arbitrary judges of your 
own appointing, and of the lowest characters in the coun- 
try, whose salaries and emoluments are to arise out of the 
duties or condemnations, and whose appointments are 
during pleasure. Then let there be a formal declaration 
of both Houses, that opposition to your edicts is treason, 
and that persons suspected of treason in the provinces 
may, according to some obsolete law, be seized and sent 
to the metropolis of the empire for trial ; and pass an act, 
that those there charged with certain other offences, shall 
be sent away in chains from their friends and country to 
be tried in the same manner for felony. Then erect a 
new court of Inquisition among them, accompanied by an 
armed force, with instructions to transport all such sus- 
pected persons ; to be ruined by the expense, if they bring 
over evidences to prove their innocence, or be found 
guilty and hanged, if they cannot afford it. And, lest the 
people should think you cannot possibly go any farther, 
pass another solemn declaratory act, " that King, Lords, 
Commons had, have, and of right ought to have, full 
power and authority to make statutes of sufficient force 
and validity to bind the unrepresented provinces in all 
cases ivhatsoevcry This will include spiritual with tem- 
poral, and, taken together, must operate wonderfully to 
your purpose ; by convincing them, that they are at pres- 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 309 

ent under a power something like that spoken of in the 
Scriptures, which can not only kill their bodies, but damn 
their souls to all eternity, by compelling them, if it pleases, 
to worship the Devil. 

11. To make your taxes more odious, and more likely 
to procure resistance, send from the capital a board of 
officers to superintend the collection, composed of the most 
indiscreet, ill-bred, and insolent you can find. Let these 
have large salaries out of the extorted revenue, and live 
in open, grating luxury upon the sweat and blood of the 
industrious ; whom they are to worry continually with 
groundless and expensive prosecutions before the above- 
mentioned arbitrary revenue judges ; all at the cost of the 
party prosecuted, though acquitted, because the King is 
to pay no costs. Let these men, by your order, be exempted 
from all the common taxes and burdens of the province, 
though they and their property are protected by its laws. 
If any revenue officers are suspected of the least tender- 
ness for the people, discard them. If others are justly 
complained of, protect and reward them. If any of the 
under officers behave so as to provoke the people to drub 
them, promote those to better offices ; this will encourage 
others to procure for themselves such profitable drub- 
bings, by multiplying and enlarging such provocations, 
and all will work towards the end you aim at. 

12. Another way to make your tax odious, is to mis- 
apply the produce of it. If it was originally appropriated 
for the defence of the provinces, and the better support of 
government, and the administration of justice, where it 
may be necessary ; then apply none of it to that defence ; 
but bestow it where it is not necessary, in augmenting 
salaries or pensions to every governor, who has distin- 
guished himself by his enmity to the people, and by 
calumniating them to their sovereign. This will make 
them pay it more unwillingly, and be more apt to quarrel 
with those that collect it and those that impose it ; who 
will quarrel again with them ; and all shall contribute to 



3IO 



FRANKLIN 



your own purpose, of making them weary of your govern- 
ment. 

13. If the people of any province have been accus- 
tomed to support their own governors and jiidges to satisfac- 
tion, you are to apprehend that such governors and judges 
may be thereby influenced to treat the people kindly, and 
to do them justice. This is another reason for applying 
part of that revenue in larger salaries to such governors 
and judges, given, as their commissions are, during your 
pleasure only ; forbidding them to take any salaries from 
their provinces; that thus the people may no longer hope 
any kindness from their governors, or (in crown cases) any 
justice from their judges. And, as the money thus mis- 
applied in one province is extorted from all, probably all 
will resent the misapplication. 

14. If the Parliaments of your provinces should dare 
to claim rights, or complain of your administration, order 
them to be harassed with repeated dissolutions. If the same 
men are continually returned by new elections, adjourn 
their meetings to some country village, where they can- 
not be accommodated, and there keep them during pleas- 
ure ; for this, you know, is your prerogative ; and an 
excellent one it is, as you may manage it to promote dis- 
contents among the people, diminish their respect, and in- 
crease their disaffection. 

15. Convert the brave, honest ofificers of your navy into 
pimping tide-waiters and colony officers of the ctistoms. 
Let those, who in time of war fought gallantly in defence 
of the commerce of their countrymen, in peace be taught 
to prey upon it. Let them learn to be corrupted by great 
and real smugglers; but (to show their diligence) scour 
with armed boats every bay, harbour, river, creek, cove, 
or nook throughout the coast of your colonies ; stop and 
detain every coaster, every wood-boat, every fisherman ; 
tumble their cargoes and even their ballast inside out and 
upside down ; and, if a pennyworth of pins is found un- 
entered, let the whole be seized and confiscated. Thus 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 311 

shall the trade of your colonists suffer more from their 
friends in time of peace, than it did from their enemies in 
war. Then let these boats' crews land upon every farm 
in their way, rob their orchards, steal their pigs and poul- 
try, and insult the inhabitants. If the injured and exas- 
perated farmers, unable to procure other justice, should 
attack the aggressors, drub them, and burn their boats ; 
you are to call this high treason and rebellion, order fleets 
and armies into their country, and threaten to carry all 
the offenders three thousand miles to be hanged, drawn, 
and quartered. O ! this will work admirably ! 

16. If you are told of discontents in your colonies, never 
believe that they are general, or that you have given occa- 
sion for them ; therefore do not think of applying any 
remedy, or of changing any offensive measure. Redress 
no grievance, lest they should be encouraged to demand 
the redress of some other grievance. Grant no request 
that is just and reasonable, lest they should make another 
that is unreasonable. Take all your informations of the 
state of the colonies from your governors and officers in 
enmity with them. Encourage and reward these leasing- 
makers; secrete their lying accusations, lest they should 
be confuted; but act upon them as the clearest evidence; 
and believe nothing you hear from the friends of the peo- 
ple. Suppose all their complaints to be invented and pro- 
moted by a few factious demagogues, whom if you could 
catch and hang, all would be quiet. Catch and hang a 
few of them accordingly ; and the blood of the martyrs 
shall work miracles in favor of your purpose. 

17. If you see rival nations rejoicing at the prospect of 
your disunion with your provinces, and endeavouring to 
promote it; if they translate, publish, and applaud all the 
complaints of your discontented colonists, at the same 
time privately stimulating you to severer measures, let 
not that offend you. Why should it, since you all mean 
the same thing ? 

18. If any colony should at their own charge erect a 



212 FRANKLIN 

fortress to secure their port against the fleets of a foreign 
enemy, get your governor to betray that fortress into your 
hands. Never think of paying what it cost the country, 
for that would look, at least, like some regard for justice ; 
but turn it into a citadel to awe the inhabitants and curb 
their commerce. If they should have lodged in such for- 
tress the very arms they bought and used to aid you in 
your conquests, seize them all ; it will provoke, like in- 
gratitude added to robbery. One admirable effect of these 
operations will be, to discourage every other colony from 
erecting such defences, and so their and your enemies 
may more easily invade them ; to the great disgrace of 
your government, and of course the furtherance of your 
project. 

19. Send armies into their country under pretence of 
protecting the inhabitants ; but, instead of garrisoning 
the forts on their frontiers with those troops, to pre- 
vent incursions, demolish those forts, and order the 
troops into the heart of the country, that the savages 
may be encouraged to attack the frontiers, and that the 
troops may be protected by the inhabitants. This will 
seem to proceed from your /'// zvill or your ignorajice, 
and contribute farther to produce and strengthen an 
opinion among them, that you are no longer fit to govern 
them. 

20. Lastly, invest the general of your army in the prov- 
mces, with great and unconstitutional powers, and free 
him from the control of even your own civil governors. 
Let him have troops enough under his command, with all 
the fortresses in his possession ; and who knows but (like 
some provincial generals in the Roman empire, and en- 
couraged by the universal discontent you have produced) 
he may take it into his head to set up for himself? If he 
should, and you have carefully practised the few excellent 
rules of mine, take my word for it, all the provinces will 
immediately join him ; and you will that day (if you have 
not done it sooner) get rid of the trouble of governing 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



313 



them, and all the plagues attending their commerce and 
connexion from thenceforth and forever. 

Q. E. D. 

ON A PROPOSED ACT OF PARLIAMENT FOR 
PREVENTING EMIGRATION 

To the Printer of the " Public Advertiser " 

Sir: You give us in your paper of Tuesday, the i6th 
of November, what is called "The Plan of an Act to be 
proposed at the next Meeting of Parliament, to prevent 
the Emigration of our People." I know not from what 
authority it comes ; but, as it is very circumstantial, I sup- 
pose some such plan may be really under consideration, 
and that this is thrown out to feel the pulse of the public. 
I shall therefore, with your leave, give my sentiments of 
it in your paper. 

During a century and a half that Englishmen have 
been at liberty to remove if they pleased to America, we 
have heard of no law to restrain that liberty, and confine 
them as prisoners in this Island. Nor do we perceive any 
ill effects produced by their emigration. Our estates, far 
from diminishing in value through a want of tenants, have 
been in that period more than doubled ; the lands in gen- 
eral are better cultivated ; their increased produce finds a 
ready sale at an advanced price ; and the complaint has 
been for some time not that we want mouths to consume 
our meat, but that we want meat for our number of 
mouths. . . . 

Why then is such a restraining law w^zc; thought neces- 
sary ? A paragraph in the same paper from the " Edin- 
burgh Courant," may perhaps throw some light upon this 
question. We are there told, " that one thousand five 
hundred people have emigrated to the shores of America 
from the shire of Sutherland within these two years, and 
carried with them seven thousand five hundred pounds 
sterling, which exceeds a year's rent of the whole coun- 
ty ; that the single consideration of the misery which most 



314 



FRANKLIN 



of these people must suffers America, independent of the 
loss of men and money to the mother country, should en- 
gage the attention, not only of the landed interest, but of 
administration^ The humane writer of this paragraph 
may, I fancy, console himself with the reflection, that per- 
haps the apprehended future sufferings of those emigrants 
will never exist ; for that it was probably the authentic 
accounts they had received from friends already settled 
there, of the felicity to be enjoyed in that country, with a 
thorough knowlege of their own misery at home, which 
induced their removal. And, as a politician, he may be 
comforted by assuring himself, that, if they really meet 
with greater misery in America, their future letters la- 
menting it, will be more credited than the " Edinburgh 
Courant,"and effectually, without a law, put a stop to the 
emigration. It seems some of the Scottish chiefs, who 
delight no longer to live upon their estates in the honor- 
able independence they were born to, among their respect- 
ing tenants, but choose rather a life of luxury, though 
among the dependents of a court, have lately raised their 
rents most grievously, to support the expense. The con- 
suming of those rents in London, though equally prejudi- 
cial to the poor county of Sutherland, no Edinburgh 
newspaper complains of; but now, that the oppressed 
tenants take flight, and carry with them what might have 
supported the London landlord's magnificence, he begins 
X.O feci for the Mother Country, and its enormous loss of 
seven thousand five hundred pounds carried to her colo- 
nies ! Administration is called upon to remedy the evil, 
by another abridgment of English Liberty. And surely 
administration should do something for these gentry, as 
they do anything for administration. 

But is there not an easier remedy ? Let them return 
to their family seats, live among their people, and, instead 
of fleecing and skinning, patronize and cherish them ; pro- 
mote their interest, encourage their industry, and make 
their situation comfortable. If the poor folks are happier 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 315 

at home than they can be abroad, they will not lightly be 
prevailed with to cross the ocean. But can their lord 
blame them for leaving home in search of better living, 
when he first set them the example? 
I would consider the proposed law, 

1st. As to the NECESSITY of it 

If any country has more people than can be comfort- 
ably subsisted in it, some of those who are incommoded 
may be induced to emigrate. As long as the new situa- 
tion shall he far preferable to the old, the emigration may 
possibly continue. But when many of those who at home 
interfered with others of the same rank (in the competition 
for farms, shops, business, offices, and other means of sub- 
sistence) are gradually withdrawn, the inconvenience of 
that competition ceases ; the number remaining no longer 
half starve each other; they find they can now subsist 
comfortably, and though perhaps not quite so well as 
those who have left them, yet, the inbred attachment to 
a native country is sufficient to overbalance a moderate 
difference ; and thus the emigration ceases naturally. The 
waters of the ocean may move in currents from one quar- 
ter of the globe to another, as they happen in some cases 
to be accumulated, and in others diminished ; but no law, 
beyond the law of gravity, is necessary to prevent their 
abandoning any coast entirely. Thus the different de- 
grees of happiness of different countries and situations 
find, or rather make, their level by the flowing of people 
from one to another ; and where that level is once found, 
the removals cease. Add to this, that even a real defi- 
ciency of people in any country, occasioned by a wasting 
war or pestilence, is speedily supplied by earlier and more 
prolific marriages, encouraged by the greater facility of 
obtaining the means of subsistence. So that a country 
half depopulated would soon be re-peopled, till the means 
of subsistence were equalled by the population. All in- 
crease beyond that point must perish, or flow off into 



3i6 FRANKLIN 

more favorable situations. Such overflowings there have 
been of mankind in all ages, or we should not now have 
had so many nations. But to apprehend absolute depopu- 
lation from that cause, and call for a law to prevent it, is 
calling for a law to stop the Thames, lest its waters, by 
what leave it daily at Gravesend, should be quite ex- 
hausted. Such a law, therefore, I do not conceive to 
be Necessary. 

2dly. As to the PRACTICABILITY 

When I consider the attempts of this kind that have 
been made, first in the time of Archbishop Laud, by orders 
of Council, to stop the Puritans who were flying from his 
persecutions into New England, and next by Louis the 
Fourteenth, to retain in his kingdom the persecuted Hu- 
guenots ; and how ineffectual all the power of our crown, 
with which the Archbishop armed himself, and all the 
more absolute power of that great French monarch, were 
to obtain the end for which they were exerted ; and when 
I consider, too, the extent of coast to be guarded, and the 
multitude of cruisers necessary effectually to make a prison 
of the Island for this confinement of free Englishmen, who 
naturally love liberty, and would probably by the very 
restraint be more stimulated to break through it ; I can- 
not but think such a law impracticable. The offices 
would not be applied to for licenses, the ports would 
not be used for embarkation. And yet the people dis- 
posed to leave us, would, as the Puritans did, get away 
by shipfuls. 

■^dly. As to the POLICY of the Law 

Since I have shown there is no danger of depopulating 
Britain but that the place of those that depart will soon 
be filled up equal to the means of obtaining a livelihood, 
let us see whether there are not some general advantages 
to be expected from the present emigration. The new 
settlers in America finding plenty of subsistence, and land 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



317 



easily acquired whereon to seat their children, seldom 
postpone marriage through fear of poverty. Their 
natural increase is therefore in proportion far beyond 
what it would have been, if they had remained here. New 
farms are daily everywhere forming in those immense 
forests ; new towns and villages rising ; hence a growing 
demand for our merchandise, to the greater employment 
of our manufacturers, and the enriching of our merchants. 
By this natural increase of the people, the strength of the 
empire is increased ; men are multiplied, out of whom 
new armies may be formed on occasion, or the old 
recruited. The long extended sea coast, too, of that vast 
country, the great maritime commerce of its ports with 
each other, its many navigable rivers and lakes, and its 
plentiful fisheries, breed multitudes of seamen, besides 
those created and supported by its voyages to Europe ; a 
thriving nursery this, for the manning of our fleets in time 
of war, and maintaining our importance among foreign 
nations by that navy, which is also our best security 
against invasions from our enemies. An extension of 
empire by conquest of inhabited countries is not so easily 
obtained, it is not so easily secured ; it alarms more the 
neighboring states ; it is more subject to revolts, and more 
apt to occasion new wars. 

The increase of dominion by colonies proceeding from 
yourselves, and by the natural growth of your own people, 
cannot be complained of by your neighbors as an injury ; 
none have a right to be offended with it. Your new 
possessions are therefore more secure, they are more 
cheaply gained, they are attached to your nation by 
natural alliance and affection ; and thus they afford an 
additional strength more certainly to be depended on, 
than any that can be acquired by a conquering power, 
though at an immense expense of blood and treasure. 
These, methinks, are national advantages, that more than 
equiponderate with the inconvenience suffered by a few 
Scotch or Irish landlords, who perhaps may find it neces- 



3i8 



FRANKLIN 



sary to abate a little of their present luxury, or of those 
advanced rents they now so unfeelingly demand. From 
these considerations, I think I may conclude, that the re- 
straining law proposed would, if practicable, be IMPOLITIC. 

A,thly. As to the JUSTICE of it 

I apprehend that every Briton, who is made unhappy 
at home, has a right to remove from any part of his King's 
dominions into those of any other prince, where he can be 
happier. If this should be denied me, at least it will be 
allowed that he has a right to remove into any other part 
of the same dominions. For by this right so many Scotch- 
men remove into England, easing their own country of 
its supernumeraries, and benefiting ours by their industry. 
And this is the case with those who go to America. Will 
not these Scottish lairds be satisfied unless a law passes 
to pin down all tenants to the estate they are born on, 
{adscript glebes), to be bought and sold with it ? God has 
given to the beasts of the forest, and the birds of the air, 
a right, when their subsistence fails in one country, to 
migrate to another, where they can get a more comfort- 
able living; and shall man be denied a privilege enjoyed 
by brutes, merely to gratify a few avaricious landlords ? 
Must misery be made permanent and suffered by niajiy for 
the emolument of one ; while the increase of human beings 
is prevented, and thousands of their offspring stifled as it 
were, in their birth, that this petty Pharaoh may enjoy an 
excess of opulence? God commands to increase and 
replenish the earth ; the proposed law would forbid 
increasing, and confine Britons to their present number, 
keeping half that number too in wretchedness. The 
common people of Britain and of Ireland contributed by 
the taxes they paid, and by the blood they lost, to the 
success of that war, which brought into our hands the 
vast unpeopled territories of North America ; a country 
favored by Heaven with all the advantages of climate and 
soil. Germans are now pouring into it, to take possession 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 319 

of it, and fill it with their posterity ; and shall Britons 
and Irelanders, who have a much better right to it, 
be forbidden a share of it, and, instead of enjoying- 
there the happiness and plenty that might reward their 
industry, be compelled to remain here in poverty and 
misery ? Considerations such as these persuade me, 
that the proposed law would be both UNJUST and inhu- 
man. 

If then it is tuinecessary, impracticable, impolitic, and 
unjust, I hope our Parliament will never receive the bill, 
but leave landlords to their own remedy, an abatement of 
rents, and frugality of living ; and leave the liberties of 
Britons and Irishmen at least as extensive as it found 
them. I am. Sir, yours, &c. 

A Friend to the Poor. 

DR. franklin on METHODS OF SWIMMING 
To Monsieur Dubourg, 1763 

When I was a boy, I made two oval palettes, each 
about ten inches long, and six broad, with a hole for the 
thumb, in order to retain it fast in the palm of my hand. 
They much resembled a painter's palettes. In swimming 
I pushed the edges of these forward, and I struck the 
water with their flat surfaces, as I drew them back. I 
remember I swam faster by means of these palettes, but 
they fatigued my wrists. I also fitted to the soles of my 
feet a kind of sandals ; but I was not satisfied with them, 
because I observed that the stroke is partly given by the 
inside of the feet and the ancles, and not entirely with 
the soles of the feet. . . , 

I know by experience, that it is a great comfort to a 
swimmer, who has a considerable distance to go, to turn 
himself sometimes on his back, and to vary in other re- 
spects the means of procuring a progressive motion. 

When he is seized with the cramp in the leg, the 
method of driving it away is, to give the parts affected a 



320 



FRANKLIN 



sudden, vigorous, and violent shock ; which he may do in 
the air as he swims on his back. 

During the great heats of summer there is no danger 
in bathing, however warm we may be, in rivers which 
have been thoroughly warmed by the sun. But to throw 
one's self into cold spring-water, when the body has been 
heated by exercise in the sun, is an imprudence which 
may prove fatal. I once knew an instance of four young 
men who, having worked at harvest in the heat of the 
day, with a view of refreshing themselves plunged into a 
stream of cold water; two died upon the spot, a third the 
next morning, and the fourth recovered with great dif- 
ficulty. A copious draught of cold water, in similar cir- 
cumstances, is frequently attended with the same effect 
in North America. 

The exercise of swimming is one of the most healthy 
and agreeable in the world. After having swam for an 
hour or two in the evening, one sleeps coolly the whole 
night, even during the most ardent heat of summer. Per- 
haps, the pores being cleansed, the insensible perspiration 
increases and occasions this coolness. It is certain that 
much swimming is the means of stopping a diarrhoea, and 
even of producing a constipation. . . . 

You will not be displeased if I conclude these hasty 
remarks by informing you, that as the ordinary method 
of swimming is reduced to the act of rowing with the 
arms and legs, and is consequently a laborious and fatigu- 
ing operation when the space of water to be crossed is 
considerable ; there is a method in which a swimmer may 
pass to great distances with much facility, by means of 
a sail. This discovery I fortunately made by accident, 
and in the following manner. When I was a boy I 
amused myself one day with flying a paper kite ; and ap- 
proaching the bank of a pond, which was near a mile 
broad, I tied the string to a stake, and the kite ascended 
to a very considerable height above the pond, while I 
was swimming. In a little time, being desirous of amus- 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



321 



ing myself with my kite, and enjoying at the same time 
the pleasure of swimming, I returned ; and loosing from 
the stake the string with the little stick which was fast- 
ened to it, went again into the water, where I found, that, 
lying on my back and holding the stick in my hands, I 
was drawn along the surface of the water in a very agree- 
able manner. Having then engaged another boy to carry 
my clothes around the pond, to a place which I pointed 
out to him on the other side, I began to cross the pond 
with my kite, which carried me quite over without the 
least fatigue, and with the greatest pleasure imaginable. 
I was only obliged occasionally to halt a little in my 
course, and resist its progress, when it appeared that, by 
following too quick, I lowered the kite too much ; by 
doing which occasionally I made it rise again. I have 
never since that time practiced this singular mode of 
swimming, though I think it not impossible to cross in 
this manner from Dover to Calais. The packet-boat, 
however, is still preferable. B. Franklin. 

Immediately after the proceeding's before the privy council, Dr. 
Franklin was dismissed from the office of deputy postmaster-general, 
which he had held under the crown. It was not only by the transmis- 
sion of the letters of Governor Bernard and Lieutenant-Governor Hutch- 
inson that he had given offence to the British ministry, but by his popular 
writings in favor of America. 

Dr. Franklin, at this momentous period, was unceasing in his en- 
deavors to induce the British Government to change its measures with 
respect to the colonies. In private conversations, in letters to persons 
connected with government, and in writings in the public prints, he con- 
tinually expatiated upon the impolicy and injustice of its conduct toward 
America ; and stated in the most energetic manner, that notwithstanding 
the sincere attachment of the colonists to the mother country, a continu- 
ance of ill-treatment must ultimately alienate their affections. The min- 
isters listened not to his advice and solemn warnings ; they blindly perse- 
vered in their own schemes, and left to the Americans no alternative but 
opposition or unconditional submission. 

Dr. Franklin, thus finding all his efforts to .estore harmony between 
Great Britain and her colonies ineffectual, and being looked upon by Gov- 
ernment with a jealous eye, who, it was said, entertained some thoughts 
ai 



322 FRANKLIN 

of arresting him. under the pretense of his having fomented a rebellion in 
the colonies (of which he received private intimation), determined on im- 
mediately returning to America, and to this effect embarked from Eng- 
land in March, 1775. 

During his homeward voyage he drew up a clear statement of such 
interviews ar.d negotiations as he had had with members of the Govern- 
ment, as well as with friends of America in public life. From this paper 
the following extract is taken : 

I had promised Lord Chatham to communicate to him 
the first important news I should receive from America. 
I therefore sent him the proceedings of the Congress as 
soon as I received them. 

On Mondav the 26th, I got out, and was there about 
one o'clock ; he received me with an affectionate kind of 
respect, that from so great a man was extremely engag- 
ing ; but the opinion he expressed of the Congress was 
still more so. They had acted, he said, with so much 
temper, moderation, and wisdom, that he thought it the 
most honorable assembly of statesmen since those of the 
ancient Greeks and Romans, in the most virtuous times. 
He thought the petition decent, manly, and properly ex- 
pressed. He inquired much, and particularlv concerning 
the state of America, the probabilit)^ of their persever- 
ance, the difficulties they must meet with in adhering 
for any long time to their resolutions, the resources they 
might have to supply the deficiencies of commerce ; to 
all which I gave him answers with which he seemed well 
satisfied. 

He expressed a great regard and warm affection for 
that country, with hearty wishes for their prosperitv ; 
and that government here might soon come to see its 
mistakes, and rectifv them ; and intimated that he might, 
if his health permitted, prepare something for its con- 
sideration when the Parliament should meet after the 
holidavs ; on which he should wish to have previously my 
sentiments. I mentioned to him the very hazardous state 
I conceived we were in. bv the continuance of the army 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



323 



in Boston ; that the army could not possibly answer any 
good purpose there, and might be infinitely mischievous ; 
that no accommodation could properly be proposed and 
entered into by the Americans, while the bayonet was at 
their breasts ; that to have any agreement binding, all force 
should be withdrawn. His lordship seemed to think that 
these sentiments had something in them that was reason- 
able. 

Upon another occasion, in an interview with Dr. Fothergill, a sin- 
cere friend to Anierici, Dr. Franklin tlms records a part of the conversation : 

We had not at this time a great deal of conversation 
upon these points ; for I shortened it by observing, that 
while the Parliament claimed and exercised a power of 
altering our constitutions at pleasure, there could be no 
agreement ; for we were rendered unsafe in every privi- 
lege we had a right to, and were secure in nothing. And 
it being hinted how necessary an agreement was for 
America, since it was so easy for Britain to burn all our 
seaport towns, I grew warm, said that the chief part of 
my little property consisted of houses in those towns ; 
that they might make bonfires of them' whenever they 
pleased ; that the fear of losing them would never alter 
my resolution to resist to the last that claim of Parliament ; 
and that it behoved this country to take care what mis- 
chief it did us ; for that sooner or later it would certainly 
be obliged to make good all damages with interest. 

RETURN TO PHILADELPHIA, MAY. 1775 

After a very pleasant passage of about six weeks, Dr. Franklin arrived 
at the Capes of Delaware, was landed at Chester, and thence proceeded by 
land to Philadelpliia. where every mark of respect, attachment, and ven- 
eration was shown hini by his fellow-citizens ; and the very day after his 
arrival he was elected by the Legislature of Pennsylvania a delegate to 
Congress. In short, his public services met with the most flattering re- 
wards that a patriot could possibly desire. 

Shortly after his arrival, he thus notices the then existing state of the 
colonies, in a letter of May i6th, 1775, to a friend in London : 



324 



FRANKLIN 



You will have heard before this reaches you, of a 
march stolen by the British troops into the country at 
night, and of their expedition back again. They retreated 
twenty miles in six hours. ' 

The Governor of Massachusetts had called the Assem- 
bly to propose Lord North's pacific plan ; but before the 
time of their meeting, began cutting of throats ; you know 
it was said he carried the sword in one hand, and the olive 
braneh in the other ; and it seems he chose to gfive them a 
taste of the sivord first. He is doubling his fortifications 
at Boston, and hopes to secure his troops till succor 
arrives. The place, indeed, is naturally so defensible, 
that I think them in no danger. 

All America is exasperated by his conduct, and more 
firmly united than ever. The breach between the two 
countries is grown wider, and in danger of becoming 
irreparable. 

The following letter was written soon after the first blood of the 
Revolution had been shed at Lexington aiid Bunker Hill : 

Philadelphia, 5 July, 1775. 

Mr. Straiian : You are a Member of Parliament, and 
one of that majority which has doomed my country to 
destruction. You have begun to burn our towns, and 
murder our people. Look upon your hands, they are 
stained with the blood of vour relations ! You and I were 
long friends ; you are now my enemy, and I am, 

Yours, 

B. Franklin. 

TO JOSEPH PRIESTLEY 

Philadelphia, 7 July, 1775. 

The Congress met at a time when all minds were so 
exasperated by the perfidy of General Gage, and his 
attack on the countrv people, that propositions for attempt- 
ing an accommodation were not much relished ; and it 

• This was the Lexington skirmish, April 19th, 1775. — A. R. S. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 325 

has been with difficulty that we have carried in that 
assembly another humble petition to the crown, to give 
Britain one more chance, one opportunity more, of recov- 
ering the friendship of the colonies ; which, however, I 
think she has not sense enough to embrace, and so I con- 
elude she has lost them for ever. 

She has begun to burn our seaport towns ; secure, I 
suppose, that we shall never be able to return the outrage 
in kind. She may doubtless destroy them all ; but, if she 
wishes to recover our commerce, are these the probable 
means? She must certainly be distracted ; for no trades- 
man out of Bedlam ever thought of increasing the number 
of his customers, by knocking them on the head ; or of 
enabling them to pay their debts, by burning their houses. 
If she wishes to have us subjects, and that we should sub- 
mit to her as our compound sovereign, she is now giving 
us such miserable specimens of her government, that we 
shall ever detest and avoid it, as a complication of robbery, 
murder, famine, fire, and pestilence. 

You will have heard before this reaches you, of the 
treacherous conduct of General Gage to the remaining 
people in Boston, in detaining their goods, after stipulating 
to let them go out with their effects, on pretence that 
merchants' goods were not effects ; the defeat of a great 
body of his troops by the country people at Lexington ; 
some other small advantages gained in skirmishes with 
their troops; and the action at Bunker's Hill, in which 
they were twice repulsed, and the third time gained a dear 
victory. Enough has happened, one would think, to con- 
vince your ministers, that the Americans will fight, and 
that this is a harder nut to crack than they imagined. 

We have not yet applied to any foreign power for 
assistance, nor offered our commerce for their friendship. 
Perhaps we never may ; yet it is natural to think of it, if 
we are pressed. We have now an army on the establish- 
ment, which still holds yours besieged. My time was 
never more fully employed. In the morning at six, I am 



326 FRANKLIN 

at the Committee of Safety, appointed by the Assembly to 
put the province in a state of defence ; which committee 
holds till near nine, when I am at the Congress, and that 
sits till after four in the afternoon. Both these bodies pro- 
ceed with the greatest unanimity, and their meetings are 
well attended. It will scarce be credited in Britain, that 
men can be as diligent with us from zeal for the public 
good, as with you for thousands per annum. Such is the 
difference between uncorrupted new states, and corrupted 
old ones. 

Great frugality and great industry are now become 
fashionable here. Gentlemen, who used to entertain with 
two or three courses, pride themselves now in treating 
with simple beef and pudding. By these means, and the 
stoppage of our consumptive trade with Britain, we shall 
be better able to pay our voluntary taxes for the support 
of our troops. Our savings in the article of trade amount 
to near five million sterling per annum. Believe me 
ever, &c. B. Franklin. 

In October, 1775, ^^- Franklin was appointed by Cong-ress, jointly 
with his colleagues. Colonel Harrison and Mr. Lynch, a committee to 
visit the American camp at Cambridge, and, in conjunction with the com- 
mander-in-chief (General Washington), to endeavour to convince the 
troops, whose term of enlistment was about to expire, of the necessity of 
their continuing in the field and persevering in the cause of their coun- 
try. He was afterward sent on a mission to Canada, to endeavour to 
unite that country to the common cause of liberty. But the Canadians 
could not be prevailed upon to oppose the measures of the British Gov- 
ernment. 

It was on the fourth day of July, 1776, that the thirteen English colo- 
nies in America declared themselves free and independent states, and by 
an act of Congress abjured all allegiance to the British crown, and re- 
nounced all political connection with Great Britain. In the beginning of 
1776, an act of the British Parliament passed, to prohibit and restrain, on 
the one hand, the trade and intercourse of the refractory colonies, respec- 
tively, during their revolt ; and, on the other hand, to enable persons ap- 
pointed by the British king to grant pardons, and declare any particular 
district in the king's peace, etc. Lord Howe (who had been previously 
appointed commander of the British fleet in North America) was on 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



327 



May 3 AtcXsirtdijomt commissioner W\\.\\ his brother. General Howe, for 
the latter purposes of the act. Lord Howe took occasion to publish 
everywhere that he had proposals to make on the part of Great Britain 
tending io peace and reconciliation, and that he was ready to communi- 
cate them. The Congress were of opinion that the admiral could have 
no terms to offer but such as the act of Parliament empowered him to 
offer, which were pardon upon submission ; yet, as the people might 
imagine more, and be uneasy if he were not heard, they appointed three 
of their body — Messrs. Franklin, Adams, and Rutledge — to meet him. 
He seemed to have flattered himself that the Congress, humbled by their 
late losses, would have been submissive and compliant. He found him- 
self mistaken. The committee told him firmly that if he had nothing else 
to propose he was come too late ; the humble petitions of Congress had 
been rejected with contempt, independence was now declared, and the 
new government formed. And when, in cajoling them, he expressed his 
" affection for America, his concern in viewing her dangerous situation, 
and said that to see her fall would give him the same pain as to see a 
brother fall," they answered that it was kind, but America would en- 
deavour to spare him that pain. They returned and reported the confer- 
ence to Congress, who published it, and the people were satisfied that 
they had no safety to expect but in arms. 

Dr. Franklin, who had known Lord Howe in London, received from 
his lordship, on occasion of this embassy, a conciliatory letter, assuring 
him of his personal regard, to which Franklin replied as follows : 

TO LORD HOWE 

Philadelphia, July 20, 1776. 

My Lord : I received safe the letters your lordship 
so kindly forwarded to me, and beg you to accept my 
thanks. The official dispatches to which you refer me 
contain nothing more than what we had seen in the act 
of Parliament, viz. offers of pardon upon submission 
which I am sorry to find, as it must give your lordship 
pain to be sent so far on so hopeless a business. Direct- 
ing pardons to be offered to the colonies, who are the 
very parties injured, expresses indeed that opinion of our 
ignorance, baseness, and insensibility, which your unin. 
formed and proud nation has long been pleased to enter- 
tain of us ; but it can have no other effect than that of 
increasing our resentment. It is impossible we should 



^.>S FRANKLIN 

think of submission to a government that has with a most 
wanton barbarity and cruelty burnt our defenceless 
towns in the midst of winter, excited the savages to mas- 
sacre our farmers, and our slaves to murder their masters, 
aiul is even now bringing foreign mercenaries to deluge 
our settlements with blood. These atrocious injuries 
have extinguished everv remaining spark of atTection for 
that parent country we once held so dear ; but were it 
possible for us to forget and forgive them, it is not pos- 
sible for you {{ mean the British nation^ to forgive the 
people vou haye so hoayilv injured : vou can never con- 
hde again in those as tellow subjects, and permit them to 
enjoy equal freedom, to whom vou know you have given 
such just cause of lasting enmity. And this must compel 
vou. were we again under your government, to endeavor 
the breaking our spirit by the severest tyranny, and ob- 
structing by every means in your power, our growing 
strength and prosperity. 

But vour lordship mentions '* the king's paternal solici- 
tude for promoting the establishment of lasting /^iw^ and 
union with the colonies," If by peace is here meant a 
peace to be entered into between Britain and America, as 
distinct states now at war. and his majesty has given vour 
lordship powers to treat with us of such a peace, I may 
venture to sav. though without authority, that I think a 
treatv for that purpose not quite impracticable, before we 
enter into foreign alliances. But 1 am persuaded vou have 
no such powers. Your nation, though bv punishing those 
American governors who have created and fomented the 
discord, rebuilding our burnt towns and repairing as far as 
possible the mischiefs done us. might vet recover a great 
share of our regard, and the greatest part of our growing 
commerce, with all the advantage of that additional 
strength to be derived from a friendship with us ; but I 
know too well her abounding pride and deficient wisdom, 
to believe she will ever take such salutary measures. 
Her fondness for conquest as a warlike nation, her lust 



ESSAYS AND CORRESrONDENCE 



329 



for dominion as an ambitious one, and her thirst for a gain- 
ful monopoly as a commercial one (none of them legiti- 
mate causes of war) will all join to hide from her eyes 
every view of her true interests, and continually goad her 
on in those ruinous distant expeditions, so destructive 
both of lives and treasure, that must prove as pernicious 
to her in the end as the croisades formerly were to most 
of the nations of Europe. 

1 have not the vanity, my lord, to think of intimidat- 
ing by thus predicting the elTects of this war; for I know 
it will in England have the fate of all mv former predic- 
tions, not to be believed till the event shall verify it. 

Long did 1 endeavor, with unfeigned and unwearied 
zeal, to preserve from breaking that fine and noble China 
vase, the British empire : for I knew that being once 
broken, the separate parts could not retain even their 
share of the strength or value that existed in the whole. 
and that a perfect reunion of those parts could scarce 
ever be hoped for. Your lordship may possibly remem- 
ber the tears of joy that wet my cheek, when, at your 
good sister's in London, you once gave me expectations 
that a reconciliation might soon take place. I had the 
misfortune to find those expectations disappointed, and 
to be treated as the cause of the mischief I was laborins: 
to prevent, Mv consolation under that groundless and 
malevolent treatment was. that I retained the friendship 
of many wise and good men in that countrv. and among 
the rest, some share in the regard of Lord Howe. 

The well-tounded esteem, and permit me to say. affec- 
tion, which 1 shall alwavs have for vour lordship, makes 
it painful to me to see you engaged in conducting a war, 
the great ground of which, as expressed in your letter, is 
" the necessity of preventing the American trade from 
passing into foreign channels." To me it seems that 
neither the obtaining or retaining of anv trade, how valu- 
able soever, is an object for which men mav justly spill 
each other's blood ; that the true and sure means of ex- 



330 



FRANKLIN 



tending and securing commerce, is the goodness and 
cheapness of commodities ; and that the profit of no trade 
can ever be equal to the expense of compelling it, and of 
holding it by fieets and armies. 

I consider this war against us, therefore, as both unjust 
and unwise ; and I am persuaded that cool dispassionate 
posterity, will condemn to infamy those who advised it ; 
and that even success will not save from some degree of 
dishonor, those who voluntarily engaged to conduct it. 

I know your great motive of coming hither was the 
hope of being instrumental in a reconciliation ; and I be- 
lieve when you find that impossible on any terms given 
you to propose, you will relinquish so odious a command, 
and return to a more honorable private station. 

With the greatest and most sincere respect, I have 
the honor to be, my Lord, your lordship's most obedient 
humble servant, B. Franklin. 

A convention was assembled at Philadelphia, in July, 1776, for the 
purpose of settling a new form of government for the then State of Penn- 
sylvania. Dr. Franklin was chosen president of this convention. The 
constitution formed at that period for Pennsylvania was the result of the 
deliberations of that assembly, and may be considered as a digest of Dr. 
Franklin's principles of government. The single legislature and the 
plural executive appear to have been his favorite tenets. 

American paper money beginning about this time to fall into dis- 
repute, and immediate supplies of arms arid ammunition for the use of 
the army being absolutely necessary. Congress turned their attention 
toward Europe, and to France in particular, for the purpose of obtain- 
ing aids in money and military stores, as the only means of resist- 
ing the power of Great Britain and preserving their newly acquired 
independence. 

In the latter end of 1776 a commission was appointed for this object, 
and Dr. Franklin, though then in his seventy-first year, was considered, 
from his talents as a statesman and reputation as a philosopher, the 
most suitable person to effect the desired end, and was consequently 
nominated Commissioner Plenipotentiary to the court of France, in con- 
junction with Silas Deane and Arthur Lee, Esquires : the former had 
already been sent to Europe for the purpose of secretly obtaining and 
forwarding warlike stores, etc., and the other had been employed by 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



331 



Congress as a private and confidential agent in England. Dr. Franklin 
set off on this important mission from Philadelphia, October 26, 1776, ac- 
companied by his two grandchildren, William Temple Franklin and 
Benjamin Franklin Bache : they embarked in the United States sloop of 
war Reprisal, mounting sixteen guns, and commanded by Captain 
Wickes. During the passage Dr. Franklin made daily experiments, by 
means of the thermometer, of the temperature of the sea-water, as he had 
done on similar occasions, and with the same view, of ascertaining the 
ship's being in or otit of the Gulf Stream, and more or less within sound- 
ings. The sloop was frequently chased during the voyage by British 
cruisers, and several times prepared for action ; but being a good sailer, 
and the captain having received orders, not unnecessarily to risk an en- 
gagement, she as oflen escaped her pursuers. On the 29th (November) 
she ran into Quiberon Bay, where she continued till December 3d, where, 
finding the contrary winds likely to continue, which prevented her enter- 
ing the Loire, the captain procured a fishing-boat to put Dr. Franklin and 
his grandsons on shore at Auray, about six leagues distant, where they 
were landed in the evening. 

Arriving at Nantes on the 7th of December, a grand dinner was pre- 
pared on the occasion by some friends of America, at which Dr. Franklin 
was present, and in the afternoon went to meet a large party at the 
country seat of M. Gruel, a short distance from town, where crowds of 
visitors came to compliment him on his safe arrival, expressing great 
satisfaction, as they were warm friends to America, and hoped his being 
in France would be an advantage to the American cause, etc. A mag- 
nificent supper closed the evening. 

Being much fatigued and weakened by the voyage and journey, Dr. 
Franklin was persuaded to remain at M. Gruel's country house, where he 
was elegantly and commodiously lodged : his strength, indeed, was not 
equal to an immediate journey to Paris. During his stay at M. Gruel's 
he was in hopes of living retired, but the house was almost always full of 
visitors, from whom, however, much useful information was obtained 
respecting the state of affairs at court and the character of the persons 
in power, etc. Dr. Franklin also learnt, with great satisfaction, that a 
supply had been obtained from the French Government of two hundred 
brass field-pieces, thirty thousand fire-locks, and some other military 
stores, which were then shipping for America, and would be convoyed by 
a ship of war. 

On the 1 5th of December Dr. Franklin left Nantes, and shortly after 
arrived safely at Paris, where he continued to reside till the 7th of January 
following, when he removed with his family to Passy (a village beauti- 
fully situated about a league from the capital) and took up his abode in a 
large and handsome house, with extensive gardens, belonging to M. Le 



;;- FRANKLIN 

K.w de Chaumont. a great and useful friend to the American cause. 
Here Dr. Franklin continuevi during the whole of his residence in France 
— being about eight years and a half. 

Dr. Franklin was prh\xteiy received wth eN"er>- demonstration of 
regard and respect by the Minister for Foreign .Affairs, M. le Comte ue 
Vcrgennes. who assured him and the other American commissioners that 
they should personally enjoy in France " toute la surete e: tous les agre- 
ments que nous y tlxisons epa^uver aux etrangers,'" 

A conviction of the adv;uuages to be derived fn>m a commercial inter- 
course with America, and a desire of we.\kening the British empire by 
disniembering it. induced the French court secretly to gi\-e assistance ia 
military stores to the Americans, and to listen to propcvs^ds of an alliance. 
But they at first showed rather a reluctance to the latter nieasure. which. 
ho\N"e\"er. by Dr. Franklin's address, aided by a subsequent imponant 
success attending the Americm ..iniis, was e>-entually overcome. 

Eariv in January. 1777. Dr. Franklin went to \"er5..ulles with his col- 
leagues and. acconiing to their instructions from Congress, communicated 
to the Count de X'erg^nnes, Minister for Foreign .Affairs^ certain proposals 
in writing, to induce the Government of France to take a decided part in 
feivor of the I'nitcd States, and send a cert^iin number of ships of the 
line and frigates to act against the British on the ovist of America. 

But no answer was then obtained to these proposals, that Govern- 
ment not being then prepared to interfere ff^fith in regard to the existing 
dispute. France had, indeed, suffered so much in the preceding war 
with Great Britain that there was prv.>bably no Frenchman who did not 
wish for a diminution of the power and resounres of this nation, and 
there were but few who did not perceix'e that this reviuction wxmld in a 
considerable degree be effected by a /ri.\V«if .i/j"wMt of the subsisting coi»- 
test with America, in whate\-er way it might ultimately tenninate : and 
therefore, though the French Go\-emment did not think it prudent to 
risk the cv>nse<juences of a N\-ar with Great Britain until the colonies, or 
United States of Anwrica. should ha\-e sufficiently manitested both their 
mhciitr and J<ftfrmin,.tts\'n to p^frsin-ffrf in contending (rtncaciously for 
their independence, it was convinced of the impolicy of exposing the latter 
to the necessity of sudrnzttii^ to Great Britain by any want of arms. et<x, 
to defend then>sel\-es. and protect their resistance. It had. therefore, 
preWous to Dr. Franklin's arri\-al. at the solicitatic« of Mr. Deane. deter- 
minevi jcrt-:''.-*t'*V to afforvi a considerable supply of artillery, amts, and miB- 
tary stores to the American Congress, and for this purpose the celebrated 
Caron de Beaumarchais was employed as an i^sttrmsi^ltr agent in this busi- 
ness : and. the better to conceal the origin and nature of this trsxnsaction. 
he established a coraraereial house at Paris tinder the firm of Rod«Tgue 
Hortale^ & Ca And though he ^^^is in fact supplied with such arti- 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 333 

clos as could be spared from the arsenals of France, and with money 
to purchase the others by the French Ciovernnient, he recjuired and ob- 
tained from Mr. Deane a stipulation that Congress should deliver to his 
agents tobacco and other American productions to the amount of the 
articles supplied, after which these articles were shipped for America at 
ditTerent times and in ditVerent vessels. One of these was the Aniphiirite, 
a large ship, from which were landed in New Hampshire the artiller)'. 
amis, etc.. which were employed in the capture of General Burgoyne's 
annv. But previously to that event the British troops had obtained im- 
portant advantages in other parts of America, and in consequence thereof 
Lortl Stormont had complained to the French court in such energetic 
and menacing terms of the assistance atTorded by Fratice to the Ameri- 
can Congress that an immediate rupture with Great Britain was appre- 
hended. 

The American commissioners began privately to grant letters of 
marque to a number of French-American privateers, which harassed the 
English coasting trade, intercepted a great number of British merchant 
vessels, and took many prisoners. Lord Stormont, his Britannic Majesty's 
ambassador at Versailles, when applied to by the American commis- 
sioners relative to an exchange of those prisoners, haughtily and unfeel- 
ingly gave them tor answer " that he received no letters from rebels, 
unless they were to petition his Majesty's pardon ! " or words to that 
effect. His lordship presented several memorials to the French minister, 
complaining of the equipment of American vessels in the ports of France, 
bringing in of their prices, etc., and of the assistance France was under- 
handedly aft'ording the insurgents, demanding at the same time a cate- 
gorical answer respecting such conduct. On this occasion Count de 
Vergennes affected to remonstrate with the American commissioners, and 
on the i6th of Julv. 1777, wrote to them that they had exceeded the 
bounds limited at their first interview with him. 

In the midst of this supposed gloomy state of affairs in America, the 
news of the surrender of the British army commanded by General Bur- 
goyne to that of the Americans under General Gates, at Saratoga, on the 
17th of October, 1777, arrived in France, and at the verj- moment when the 
French cabinet was undecided as yet in regard to the steps to be adopted 
by the United States. This memorable event immediately turned the 
scale, and tixed the French nation in their attachment to the infant re- 
public. 

The news of the defeat and capture of this British general and his 
whole army was received in France Nvith as great demonstrations of joy 
as if it had been a \ictor)' gained by their own arms. Dr. Franklin took 
advantage of this circumstance, and suggested to the French ministry 
" that there was not a moment to be lost if they wished to secure the 



334 FRANKLIN 

friendship of America, and detach her entirely from the mother country'." 
Urged by these considerations, and fearful lest an accommodation might 
take place between Great Britain and her colonies, the court of France 
instantly determined to declare its intentions, and accordingly, on the 6th 
of December, 1777, M. Gerard, Secretary to the Council of State, repaired 
to the hotel of the American commissioners and informed them, by order 
of the King, " that after long and mature deliberation upon their propo- 
sitions, his JNIajesty had resolved to recognize the independence of, and 
to enter into a treaty of commerce and alliance with, the United States of 
America ; and that he would not only acknowledge their independence, 
but actually support it with all the means in his power ; that perhaps he 
was about to engage himself in an expensive war upon their account, but 
that he did not expect to be reimbursed by them ; in tine, the Americans 
were not to think that he had entered into this resolution solely with a 
view of serving them, since, independently of his real attachment to 
them and their cause, it was evidently the interest of France to diminish 
the power of England by severing her colonies from her." 

In consequence of this amicable and frank declaration treaties were 
soon after entered upon with M. Gerard, who on the 30th of January, 
1778, had received two distinct commissions from the King for that pur- 
pose. And on the 6th day of February- following a treaty of amity and 
commerce, and another of alliance eventual and defensive, between his 
most Christian Majesty and the thirteen United States of North America, 
were concluded and signed at Paris by the respective plenipotentiaries. 

This forms a memorable epoch in the political life of Dr. Franklin, as 
well as in the annals of the United States, because it was in a great 
measure owing to the aid derived from this powerful alliance that the 
American colonies were enabled to resist the mother country, and even- 
tually to establish their independence. 

Hostilities now commenced between Great Britain and France, and 
the American commissioners plenipotentiary were immediately presented 
at court in their public character with the accustomed forms, and were 
very graciously received by the King and all the royal family. 

A French historian, M. Hilliard d'Auberteuil, thus notices Dr. Frank- 
lin's first appearance at the court of Versailles : 

His age, his venerable appearance, the simplicity of 
his dress on such an occasion, everything that was either 
singular or respectable in the life of this American, con- 
tributed to augment the public attention. Clapping of 
hands and a variety of other demonstrations of joy 
announced that warmth of affection of which the French 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 335 

are more susceptible than any other people, and of which 
their politeness and civility augments the charm to him 
who is the object of it. 

Dr. Franklin was undoubtedly the fittest person that could have been 
found for rendering essential services to the United Slates at the court of 
France. He was well known as a philosopher throughout all Europe, and 
his character was held in the highest estimation. In France he was 
received with the greatest marks of respect by all the literary characters, 
and this was extended among all classes of men, and particularly at the 
court. His personal influence was hence very considerable. To the 
effects of this were added those of various writings which he published, 
tending to establish the credit and character of the United States ; and to 
his exertions in this way may in no small degree be ascribed not only the 
free gifts obtained from the French Government, but also the loans 
negotiated in Holland, which greatly contributed to bring the war to a 
favorable conclusion and the establishment of American independence. 

TO JOSEPH PRIESTLEY 

Paris, 27 January, 1777. 

I rejoice to hear of your continual progress in those 
useful discoveries ; I find that you have set all the phi- 
losophers of Europe at work upon fixed air ; and it is with 
great pleasure I observe how high you stand in their 
opinion ; for I enjoy my friends' fame as my own. 

The hint you gave me jocularly, that you did not quite 
despair of th^ philosopher s stone, draws from me a request, 
that, when you have found it, you will take care to lose it 
again ; for I believe in my conscience, that mankind are 
wicked enough to continue slaughtering one another as 
long as they can find money to pay the butchers. But, of 
all the wars in my time, this on the part of England appears 
to me the wickedest; having no cause but malice against 
liberty, and the jealousy of commerce. And I think the 
crime seems likely to meet with its proper punishment ; a 
total loss of her own liberty, and the destruction of her 
own commerce. 

I suppose you would like to know something of the 
state of affairs in America. In all probability we shall be 



3:56 FRANKLIN 

much stronger the next campaign than we were the last; 
better armed, better disciplined, and with more ammu- 
nition. When I was at the camp before Boston, the army 
had not five rounds of powder a man. This was kept a 
secret even from our people. The world wondered that 
we so seldom hred a cannon ; we could not afford it ; but 
we now make powder in plenty. 

To me it seems, as it has always done, that this war 
must end in our favor, and in the ruin of Britain, if she 
does not speedily put an end to it. An English gentle- 
man here the other day, in company with some French, 
remarked, that it was folly in France not to make war 
immediately ; And in England, replied one of them, not to 
make peace. 

Do not believe the reports you hear of our internal 
divisions. We are, I believe, as much united as any people 
ever were, and as firmly. 

TO MRS. THOMPSON. AT LISLE 

Paris, S Feb., 1777. 

You are too early, hussy, as well as too saucy, in call- 
ing me rebel ; you should wait for the event, which will 
determine whether it is a rebellion or otily a revolution. 
Here the ladies are more civil ; they call us les insurgens, 
a character that iisuallv pleases them ; and methinks all 
other women who smart, or have smarted, under the 
tyranny of a bad husband, ought to be fixed in revolution 
principles, and act accordingly. 

In my way to Canada last spring. I saw dear Mrs. Bar- 
row at New York. Mr. Barrow had been from her two 
or three months to keep Governor Tryon and other Tories 
company on board the Asia, one of the King's ships which 
lay in the harbour; and in all that time that naughty man 
had not ventured once on shore to see her. Our troops 
were then pouring into the town, and she was packing up 
to leave it, fearing, as she had a large house, they would 
incommode her by quartering officers in it. As she 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 337 

appeared in great perplexity, scarce knowing where to go, 
I persuaded her to stay ; and I went to the general officers 
then commanding there, and recommended her to their 
protection ; which they promised and performed. On my 
return from Canada, where I was a piece of a governor 
(and I think a very good one) for a fortnight, and might 
have been so till this time if your wicked army, enemies 
to all good government, had not come and driven me out, I 
found her still in quiet possession of her house. I inquired 
how our people had behaved to her. She spoke in high 
terms of the respectful attention they had paid her, and 
the quiet and security they had procured her. I said I 
was glad of it ; and that, if they had used her ill, I would 
have turned Tory. Then said she, with that pleasing 
gayety so natural to her, I wish they had. For you must 
know she is a Toryess as well as you, and can as flippantly 
call rebel. I drank tea with her ; we talked affectionately 
of you and our other friends the Wilkeses, of whom she 
had received no late intelligence. What became of her 
since, I have not heard. The street she lived in was some 
months after chiefly burnt down ; but, as the town was 
then, and ever since has been, in possession of the King's 
troops, I have had no opportunity of knowing whether 
she suffered any loss in the conflagration. I hope she did 
not, as, if she did, I should wish I had not persuaded her 
to stay there. 

I am glad to learn from you, that that unhappy, though 
deserving family, the W s, are getting into some busi- 
ness, that may afford them subsistence. I pray, that God 
will bless them, and that they may see happier days. Mr. 

Cheap's and Dr. H 's good fortunes please me. Pray 

learn, if you have not already learnt, like me, to be pleased 
with other people's pleasures, and happy with their happi- 
ness, when none occur of your own ; and then perhaps you 
will not so soon be weary of the place you chance to be in, 
and so fond of rambling to get rid of your ennui. I fancy 
you have hit upon the right reason of your being weary 



338 FRANKLIN 

of St. Omer's, viz. that you are out of temper, which is the 
effect of full living and idleness. A month in Bridewell, 
beating hemp, upon bread and water, would give you health 
and spirits, and subsequent cheerfulness and contentment 
with every other situation. I prescribe that regimen for 
you, my dear, in pure good will, without a fee. And let 
me tell you, if you do not get into temper, neither Brussels 
nor Lisle will suit you. I know nothing of the price of 
living in either of those places ; but I am sure a single 
woman, as you are, might with economy upon two hun- 
dred pounds a year maintain herself comfortably anywhere, 
and me into the bargain. Do not invite me in earnest, 
however, to come and live with you ; for, being posted 
here, I ought not to comply, and I am not sure I should 
be able to refuse. 

Present my respects to Mrs. Payne and Mrs. Heathcot ; 
for, though I have not the honor of knowing them, yet, as 
you say they are friends to the American cause, I am sure 
they must be women of good understanding. 1 know you 
wish you could see me ; but, as you cannot, I will describe 
myself to you. Figure me in your mind as jolly as for- 
merly, and as strong and hearty, only a few years older; 
very plainly dressed, wearing my thin gray straight hair, 
that peeps out under my only coiffure, a fine fur cap, which 
comes down my forehead almost to my spectacles. Think 
how this must appear among the powdered heads of Paris ! 
I wish every lady and gentleman in France would only be 
so obliging as to follow my fashion, comb their own heads 
as I do mine, dismiss their friseurs, and pay me half the 
money they paid to them. You see, the gentry might 
well afford this, and I could then enlist these friseurs, who 
are at least one hundred thousand, and with the money I 
would maintain them, make a visit with them to England, 
and dress the heads of your ministers and privy counsel- 
lors ; which I conceive at present to be tm pen de'rangees. 
Adieu. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 339 

TO THOMAS GUSHING 

Paris, I May, 1777. 

The general news here is, that all Europe is arming 
and preparing for war, as if it were soon expected. Many 
of the powers, however, have their reasons for endeavour- 
ing to postpone it, at least a few months longer. 

Our enemies will not be able to send against us all the 
strength they intended; they can procure but few Ger- 
mans ; and their recruiting and impressing at home goes 
on but heavily. They threaten, however, and give out, 
that Lord Howe is to bombard Boston this summer, and 
Burgoyne, with the troops from Canada, to destroy Provi- 
dence, and lay waste Connecticut ; while Howe marches 
against Philadelphia. They will do us undoubtedly as 
much mischief as they can ; but the virtue and bravery of 
our countrymen will, with the blessing of God, prevent 
part of what they intend, and nobly bear the rest. This 
campaign is entered upon with a mixture of rage and de- 
spair, as their whole scheme of reducing us depends upon 
its success ; the wisest of the nation being clear, that, if 
this fails, administration will not be able to support an- 
other. 

TO A FRIEND 

Passy, [177-]. 
You know, my dear friend, that I am not capable of 
refusing you any thing in my power, which would be a 
real kindness to you, or any friend of yours ; but, when I 
am certain that what you request would be directly the 
contrary, I ought to refuse it. I know that officers going 
to America for employment will probably be disappointed ; 
that our armies are full ; that there are a number of ex- 
pectants unemployed, and starving for want of subsist- 
ence ; that my recommendation will not make vacancies, 
nor can it fill them, to the prejudice of those who have a 
better claim ; that some of those officers I have been pre- 
vailed on to recommend have, by their conduct, given no 



340 FRANKLIN 

favorable impression of my judgment in military merit ; 
and then the voyage is long, the passage very expensive, 
and the hazard of being taken and imprisoned by the Eng- 
lish very considerable, if. after all, no place can be found 
affording a livelihood for the gentleman in question, he 
will perhaps be distressed in a strange country, and ready 
to blaspheme his friends, who, by their solicitations, pro- 
cured for him so unhappy a situation. 

Permit me to mention to you, that, in my opinion, the 
natural complaisance of this country often carries people 
too far in the article of recovivicndations. You give them 
with too much facility to persons of whose real characters 
vou know nothing, and sometimes at the request of others 
of whom you know as little. Frequently, if a man has no 
useful talents, is good for nothing and burdensome to his 
relations, or is indiscreet, profligate, or extravagant, they 
are glad to get rid of him bv sending him to the other end 
of the world ; and for that purpose scruple not to recom- 
mend him to those they wish should recommend him to 
others, as " un bon sujet, plcin dc vu'riti-," 8ic. &c. In con- 
sequence of my crediting such recommendations, my own 
are out of credit, and I cannot advise anybody to have the 
least dependence on them. If, after knowing this, you 
persist in desiring my recommendation for this person, 
who is known neither to )>ic nor to you, I will give it, 
though, as I said before, I ought to refuse it. 

These applications are my perpetual torment. People 
will believe, notwithstanding mv repeated declarations to 
the contrary, that I am sent hither to engage officers. In 
truth, I never had any such orders. It was never so much 
as intimated to me, that it would be agreeable to my con- 
stituents. I have even received for what I have done of 
the kind, not indeed an absolute rebuke, but some pretty 
strong hints of disapprobation. Not a day passes in which 
I have not a number of soliciting visits, besides letters. If 
I could gratifv all, or any of them, it would be a pleasure. 
I might, indeed, give them the recommendation and the 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 341 

promises they desire, and thereby please them for the 
present; but, when the certain disappointment of the ex- 
pectations with which they will so obstinately flatter 
themselves shall arrive, they must curse me for comply- 
ing with their mad requests, and not undeceiving them ; 
and will become so many enemies to our cause and 
country. 

You can have no conception how I am harassed. All 
my friends are sought out and teazed to teaze me. Great 
officers of all ranks, in all departments ; ladies, great and 
small, besides professed solicitors, worry me from morn- 
ing to night. The noise of every coach now that enters 
my court terrifies me. I am afraid to accept an invitation 
to dine abroad, being almost sure of meeting with some 
officer or officer's friend, who, as soon as I am put in good 
humor by a glass or two of champaigne, begins his attack 
upon me. Luckily I do not often in my sleep dream of 
these vexatious situations, or I should be afraid of what 
are now my only hours of comfort. If, therefore, you 
have the least remaining kindness for me, if you would 
not help to drive me out of France, for God's sake, my 
dear friend, let this your twenty-third application be 
your last. 

TO JOHN PAUL JONES 

Proposal to take command of a Ship 

Passy, I June, 1778. 

Dear Sir: I have the pleasure of informing you, that 
it is proposed to give you the command of the great ship 
we have built at Amsterdam. By what you wrote to us 
formerly, I have ventured to say in your behalf, that this 
proposition would be agreeable to you. You will im- 
mediately let me know your resolution ; which, that you 
may be more clear in taking, I must inform you of some 
circumstances. She is at present the property of the 
King; but, as there is no war yet declared, you will have 
the commission and flag of the United States, and act 



342 FRANKLIN 

under their orders and laws. The Prince de Nassau will 
make the cruise with you. She is to be brought here 
under cover as a French merchantman, to be equipped 
and manned in France. We hope to exchange your 
prisoners for as many American sailors ; but, if that fails, 
you have your present crew to be made up here with the 
other nations and French. . . . 

In consequence of the high opinion the minister of the 
marine has of your conduct and bravery, it is now settled 
(observe, that this is to be a secret between us, I being 
expressly enjoined not to communicate it to any other 
person, not even to the other gentlemen) that you are to 
have the frigate from Holland, which actually belongs to 
government, and will be furnished with as many good 
French seamen as you shall require. But you are to act 
under Congress' commission. As you may like to have 
a number of Americans, and your own are homesick, it is 
proposed to give you as many as you can engage out of 
two hundred prisoners, which the ministry of Britain 
have at length agreed to give us in exchange for those 
you have in your hands. They propose to make the 
exchange at Calais, where they are to bring the Ameri- 
cans. . . . 

It seems to be desired, that you should step up to 
Versailles (where one will meet you) in order to such a 
settlement of matters and plans with those who have the 
direction, as cannot well be done by letter. I wish it 
may be convenient to you to do it directly. The project 
of giving you the command of this ship pleases me the 
more, as it is a probable opening to the higher prefer- 
ment you so justly merit. I have the honor to be, &c. 

B. Franklin. 

Letter to an emissary of the British Court, in answer to his letter 
addressed to Dr. Franklin in Paris : 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 343 

TO CHARLES DE WEISSENTEIN 

Passy, July i, 1778. 

I have received your letter, dated Brussels, the i6th 
past. My vanity might possibly be flattered by your ex- 
pressions of compliment to my understanding, if your 
proposals did not more clearly manifest a mean opinion 
of it. 

You conjure me, in the name of the omniscient and 
just God, before whom I must appear, and by my hopes 
of future fame, to consider if some expedient cannot be 
found to put a stop to the desolation of America, and 
prevent the miseries of a general war. As I am conscious 
of having taken every step in my power to prevent the 
breach, and no one to widen it, I can appear cheerfully 
before that God, fearing nothing from his justice in this 
particular, though I have much occasion for his mercy 
in many others. As to my future fame, I am content to 
rest it on my past and present conduct, without seeking 
an addition to it in the crooked, dark paths, you propose 
to me, where I should most certainly lose it. This your 
solemn address would therefore have been more properly 
made to your sovereign and his venal Parliament. He 
and they, who wickedly began, and madly continue, a 
war for the desolation of America, are alone accountable 
for the consequences. 

You endeavour to impress me with a bad opinion of 
French faith ; but the instances of their friendly endeav- 
ours to serve a race of weak princes, who, by their own 
imprudence, defeated every attempt to promote their 
interest, weigh but little with me, when I consider the 
steady friendship of France to the Thirteen United States 
of Switzerland, which has now continued inviolate two 
hundred years. You tell me, that she will certainly cheat 
us, and that she despises us already. I do not believe 
that she will cheat us, and I am not certain that she de- 
spises us ; but I see clearly that you are endeavouring to 



344 



FRANKLIN 



cheat us by your conciliatory bill; that you actually de- 
spised our uudorstauditii^s, when you tlattered yourselves 
those artifices would succeed ; and that not only France, 
but all Europe, yourselves included, most certainly and 
for ever would despise us, if we were weak enough to ac- 
cept your insidious propositions. 

Our expectations of the future grandeur of America 
are not so magniticent. and therefore not so vain or vis- 
ionary, as you represent them to be. The body of our 
people arc not merchants, but humble husbandmen, who 
delight in the cultivation of their lands, which, from their 
fertility and the variety of our climates, are capable of 
furnishing all the necessaries and conveniences of life 
without external commerce ; and we have too much land 
to have the least temptation to extend our territory by 
conquest from peaceable neighbours, as well as too much 
justice to think of it. Our militia, you tind by experience, 
are sufficient to defend our lands from invasion ; and the 
commerce with us will be defended by all the nations 
who tind an advantage in it. We, therefore, have not the 
occasion von imagine, of tleets or standing armies, but 
may leave those expensive machines to be maintained for 
the pomp of princes, and the wealth of ancient states. 
We propose, if possible, to live in peace with all mankind ; 
and after you have been convinced, to your cost, that 
there is nothing to be got by attacking us, we have reason 
to hope, that no other power will judge it prudent to 
quarrel with us. lest they divert us from our own quiet 
industry, and turn us into corsairs preying upon theirs. 
The weight therefore of an independent empire, which 
you seem certain of our inability to bear, will not be so 
great as you imagine. The expense of our civil govern- 
ment we have always borne, and can easily bear, because 
it is small. A virtuous and laborious people may be 
cheaply governed. Determining, as we do, to have no 
offices of profit, nor any sinecures or useless appointments, 
so common in ancient or corrupted states, we can govern 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



345 



ourselves a year, for the sum you pay in a single depart- 
ment, or for what one jobbing contractor, by the favor of 
a minister, can cheat you out of in a single article. 

You think we flatter ourselves, and are deceived into 
an opinion that England must acknowledge our inde- 
pendency. We, on the other hand, think you flatter 
yourselves in imagining such an acknowledgment a vast 
boon, which we strongly desire, and which you may gain 
some great advantage by granting or withholding. We 
have never asked it of you ; we only tell you, that you 
can have no treaty with us but as an independent state ; 
and you may please yourselves and your children with 
the rattle of your right to govern us, as long as you have 
done with that of your King's being King of France, 
without giving us the least concern, if you do not attempt 
to exercise it. That this pretended right is indisputable, 
as you say, we utterly deny. Your Parliament never had 
a right to govern us, and your King has forfeited it by 
his bloody tyranny. But I thank you for letting me 
know a little of your mind, that, even if the Parliament 
should acknowledge our independency, the act would not 
be binding to posterity, and that your nation would re- 
sume and prosecute the claim as soon as they found it 
convenient from the influence of your passions, and your 
present malice against us. We suspected before, that you 
would not be actually bound by your conciliatory acts, 
longer than till they had served their purpose of inducing 
us to disband our forces ; but we were not certain, that 
you were knaves by principle, and that we ought not to 
have the least confidence in your offers, promises, or 
treaties, though confirmed by Parliament. 

I now indeed recollect my being informed, long since, 
when in England, that a certain very great personage, 
then young, studied much a certain book, called " Arcana 
Imperii." I had the curiosity to procure the book and 
read it. There are sensible and good things in it, but 
some bad ones ; for, if I remember rightly, a particular 



346 FRANKLIN 

Kiiii;- is api>laiKlod for his politically exciting a rebellion 
among his subjects, at a time when they had not strength 
to support it. that ho might, in subduing them, take away 
their privileges, which were tnniblesomc to him ; and a 
question is formally stated and discussed, Wlicilur a prince, 
zcho, to apptuxsc a revolt, viakcs protnisis of imionniiy to the 
rci'oltcrs, is oHii^-iui to fulfil those promises. Honest and 
good men would say. Ay ; but this politician says, as you 
say, No. And he giyes this pretty reason, that, though 
it was right to make the promises, because otherwise the 
revolt would not be suppressed, yet it would be wrong to 
keep them, because revolters ought to be punished to 
deter from future rcyolts. 

If these are the principles of your nation, no confidence 
can be placed in you ; it is in yain to treat with you ; and 
the wars can only end in being reduced to an utter inabil- 
ity of continuing them. 

One main drift of your letter seems to be, to impress 
me with an idea of your own impartiality, by just cen- 
sures of your ministers and measuies, and to draw from 
me propositions of peace, or approbations of those you 
haye enclosed to me. which you intimate may by 3*our 
means be conyeyed to the King diiectly, without the in- 
tervention of those ministers. You would have me give 
them to. or drop them for. a stranger, whom T may find 
next Monday in the church of Notre Dame, to be known 
by a rose in his hat. You ytnirself. Sir. are quite un- 
known to me ; you have not trusted me wiMi your true 
name. Our taking the least step towards a treaty with 
England through you. might, if vou are an enemy, be 
made use of to ruin us with our new and good friends. 
I may be indiscreet enough in many things ; but cer- 
tainly, if I were disposed to make propositions (which I 
cannot do, having none committed to me to make), I 
should never think of delivering them to the Lord knows 
who. to be carried to the Lord knows where, to serve no 
one knows what purposes. Being at this time one of the 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 34^ 

most remarkable figures in Taris, even my apfx-arance in 
the church of Notre Dame, where I cannot have any con- 
ceivable business, and especially being seen to leave or 
drop any letter to any person there, would be a matter 
of some speculation, and might, from the suspicions it 
must naturally give, have very mischievous consequences 
to our credit here. 

The very proposing of a correspondence so to be man- 
aged, in a manner not necessary where fair dealing is in- 
tended, gives just reason to suppose you intend the con- 
trary. I3esides, as your court has sent Commissioners to 
treat with the Congress, with all the powers that could 
be given them by the crown under the act of Parliament, 
what good purpose can be served by privately obtaining 
propositions from us ? Before those Commissioners went, 
we might have treated in virtue of our general powers, 
(with the knowledge, advice, and approbatifjn of our 
friends), upon any propositions made to us. But, under 
the present circumstances, for us to make propcjsitions, 
while a treaty is supposed to be actually on foot with the 
Congress, would be extremely improper, highly pre- 
sumptuous with regard to our constituents, and answer 
no good end whatever. 

I write this letter to you, notwithstanding ; (which I 
think I can convey in a less mysterious manner, and guess 
it may come to your hands ;) I write it because I would 
let you know our sense of your procedure, which appears 
as insidious as that of your conciliatory bills. Your true 
way to obtain peace, if your ministers desire it, is, to pro- 
pose openly to the Congress fair and equal terms, and 
you may possibly come sooner to such a resolution, when 
you find, that personal flatteries, general cajolings, and 
panegyrics on our virtue and %visdom are not likely to have 
the effect you seem to expect ; the persuading us to act 
basely and foolishly, in betraying our country and pos- 
terity into the hands of our most bitter enemies, giving 
up or selling our arms and warlike stores, dismissing our 



348 FRANKLIN 

ships of war and troops, and putting those enemies in 
possession of our forts and ports. 

This proposition of delivering ourselves, bound and 
gagged, ready for hanging, without even a right to com- 
plain, and without a friend to be found afterwards among 
all mankind, you would have us embrace upon the faith 
of an act of Parliament ! Good God ! an act of your 
Parliament! This demonstrates that you do not yet 
know us. and that vou fancy we do not know vou ; but it 
is not merely this flimsy faith, that we are to act upon ; 
you offer us hope, the hope of places, PENSIONS, and peer- 
ages. These, judging from yourselves, vou think are 
motives irresistible. This offer to corrupt us. Sir, is with 
me your credential, and convinces me that you are not a 
private volunteer in your application. It bears the stamp 
of British court character. It is even the signature of 
vour King. But think for a moment in what light it must 
be viewed in America. Bv places, you mean places 
among us, for you take care by a special article to secure 
your own to yourselves. We must then pay the salaries 
in order to enrich ourselves with these places. But you 
will give us pensions, probably to be paid too out of 
your expected American revenue, and which none of us 
can accept without deserving, and perhaps obtaining, a 
SVS'Penswn. PEERAGES ! alas ! Sir, our long observation 
of the vast servile majority of your peers, voting con- 
stantly for every measure proposed by a minister, how- 
ever weak or wicked, leaves us small respect for that title. 
We consider it as a sort of tar-atui-ftatJur honor, or a mix- 
ture of foulness and folly, which every man among us, 
who should accept it from your King, would be obliged 
to renounce, or exchange for that conferred by the mobs 
of their own country, or wear it with everlasting infamy. 
I am, Sir, your humble servant. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 349 

TO MRS. MARGARET STEVENSON 

Passy, 25 January, 1779. 

It is always with ^rcat pleasure, when I think of our 
long continued friendship, which had not the least inter- 
ruption in the course of twenty years ('some of the happi- 
est of nny life;, that I spent under your roof, and in your 
company. If I do not write to you as often as I used to 
do when I happen to be absent from you, it is owin^ 
partly to the present difficulty of sure communication, and 
partly to an apprehension of some inconvenience, that my 
correspondence mij^ht possibly occasion you. . . . 

I thought 1 had mentioned to you before, (and I be- 
lieve I did, though my letter may have miscarried) that 
I had received the white cloth suit, the sword, and the 
saddle for Temple, all in good order. I mention them 
now again, because Polly tells me you had not heard of 
their arrival. I wore the clothes a good deal last sum- 
mer. There is one thing more, that I wish to have, if you 
should meet with an opportunity of sending it. I mean 
the copper pot, lined with silver, to roast fowls in by 
means of a heater. I should also be glad of the piece of 
elephant's tooth. It is old ivory, perhaps of the time be- 
fore the flood, and would be a rarity to some friends 
here. . . . 

You wish to know how I live. It is in a fine house, 
situated in a neat village, on high ground, half a mile 
from Paris, with a large garden to walk in. I have abun- 
dance of acquaintance, dine abroad six days in seven. 
Sundays I reserve to dine at home, with such Americans 
as pass this way ; and I then have my grandson Ben, 
with some other American children from the school. 

If being treated with all the politeness of France, and 
the apparent respect and esteem of all ranks, from the 
highest to the lowest, can make a man happy, I ought to 
be so. Indeed, I have nothing to complain of, but a little 
too much business, and the want of that order and ccon- 



350 FRANKLIN 

omj in my family, which reigned in it when under your 
prudent direction. My paper gives me only room to add, 
that I am ever yours most affectionately, 

B. Franklin. 

TO JOSIAH QUINCY 

Passy, 22 April, 1779. 

Dear Sir : It is with great sincerity I join you in 
acknowledging and admiring the dispensations of Provi- 
dence in our favor. America has only to be thankful, 
and to persevere. God will finish his work, and estab- 
lish their freedom ; and the lovers of liberty will flock 
from all parts of Europe with their fortunes to participate 
with us of that freedom, as soon as peace is restored, 

I am exceedingly pleased with your account of the 
French politeness and civility, as it appeared among the 
officers and their fleet. They have certainly advanced in 
those respects many degrees beyond the English. I find 
them here a most amiable nation to live with. The Span- 
iards are by common opinion supposed to be cruel, the 
English proud, the Scotch insolent, the Dutch avaricious, 
&c., but I think the French have no national vice ascribed 
to them. They have some frivolities, but they are harm- 
less. To dress their head so that a hat cannot be put on 
them, and then wear their hats under their arms, and to 
fill their noses with tobacco, may be called follies, per- 
haps, but they are not vices. They are only the effects 
of the tyranny of custom. In short, there is nothing 
W'anting in the character of a Frenchman, that belongs to 
that of an agreeable and worthy man. There are only 
some trifles surplus, or which might be spared. 

I have the honor to be, dear Sir, &c., 

B. Franklin. 

TO MAJOR-GENERAL HORATIO GATES 

Passy, 2 June, 1779. 

Dear Sir : The pride of England was never so hum- 
bled by anything as by your capitulation of Saratoga. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 351 

They have not yet got over it, though a little elevated 
this spring by their success against the French commerce. 
But the growing apprehension of having Spain too upon 
their hands has lately brought them down to an humble 
seriousness, that begins to appear even in ministerial dis- 
courses, and the papers of ministerial writers. All the 
happy effects of that transaction for America are not gen- 
erally known. I may some time or other acquaint the 
world with some of them. When shall we meet again in 
cheerful converse, talk over our adventures, and finish 
with a quiet game of chess? 

The little dissensions between particular states in 
America are much magnified in England, and they once 
had great hopes from them. I consider them, with you, 
as the effects of apparent security ; which do not affect 
the grand points of independence, and adherence to treat- 
ies ; and which will vanish at a renewed appearance of 
danger. This court continues heartily our friend, and 
the whole nation are warm in our favor ; except only a 
few West Indians, and merchants in that trade, whose 
losses make them a little uneasy. 

With sincere and great esteem and affection, I am 
ever, dear Sir, &c., B. Franklin. 



TO MRS. SARAH BACHE 

Passy, 3 June, 1779. 

The clay medallion of me you say you gave to Mr. 
Hopkinson was the first of the kind made in France. A 
variety of others have been made since of different sizes ; 
some to be set in the lids of snuffboxes, and some so 
small as to be worn in rings ; and the numbers sold are 
incredible. These, with the pictures, busts, and prints, 
(of which copies upon copies are spread everywhere,) 
have made your father's face as well known as that of the 
moon, so that he durst not do anything that would oblige 
him to run away, as his phiz would discover him where- 



352 



FRANKLIN 



ever he should venture to show it. It is said by learned 
etymologists, that the name doll, for the images children 
play with, is derived from the word Idol. From the 
number of dolls now made of him, he may be truly said, 
in that sense, to be i-doll-izcd in this country. 

I think you did right to stay out of town till the sum- 
mer was over, for the sake of your child's health. I hope 
you will get out again this summer, during the hot 
months ; for I begin to love the dear little creature from 
your description of her. 

I was charmed with the account you gave me of your 
industry, the tablecloths of your own spinning, &c. ; but 
the latter part of the paragraph, that you had sent for 
linen from France because weaving and flax were grown 
dear, alas, that dissolved the charm ; and your sending 
for long black pins, and lace, and /fathers I disgusted me 
as much as if you had put salt in my strawberries. The 
spinning, I see, is laid aside, and you are to be dressed 
for the ball ! You seem not to know, my dear daughter, 
that, of all the dear things in this world, idleness is the 
dearest, except mischief. 

The project you mention, of removing Temple from 
me, was an unkind one. To deprive an old man, sent to 
serve his country in a foreign one, of the comfort of a 
child to attend him, to assist him in health and take care 
of him in sickness, would be cruel, if it was practicable. 
In this case it could not be done ; for, as the pretended 
suspicions of him are groundless, and his behaviour in 
ever}'^ respect unexceptionable, I should not part with the 
child, but with the employment. But I am confident, 
that, whatever may be proposed by weak or malicious 
people, the Congress is too wise and too good to think of 
treating me in that manner. 

Ben, if I should live long enough to want it, is like to 
be another comfort to me. As I intend him for a Presby- 
terian as well as a republican, I have sent him to finish 
his education at Geneva. He is much grown, in very 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 353 

good health, draws a little, as you will see by the enclosed, 
learns Latin, writing, arithmetic, and dancing, and speaks 
French better than English. He made a translation of 
your last letter to him, so that some of your works may 
now appear in a foreign language. He has not been long 
from me. I send the accounts I have of him, and I shall 
put him in mind of writing to you. I cannot propose to 
you to part with your own dear Will. I must one of 
these days go back to see him ; happy to be once more 
all together ! but futurities are uncertain. Teach him, 
however, in the mean time, to direct his worship more 
properly, for the deity of Hercules is now quite out of 
fashion. 

The present you mention as sent by me was rather 
that of a merchant at Bordeaux ; for he would never give 
me any account of it, and neither Temple non I know any 
thing of the particulars. 

When I began to read your account of the high prices 
of goods, *• a pair of gloves seven dollars, a yard of com- 
mon gauze twenty-four dollars, and that it now required 
a fortune to maintain a family in a very plain way," I ex- 
pected you would conclude with telling me, that every- 
body as well as yourself was grown frugal and indus- 
trious ; and I could scarcely believe my eyes in reading 
forward, that " there never was so much pleasure and 
dressing going on ; " and that you yourself wanted black 
pins and feathers from France to appear, I suppose, in the 
mode ! This leads me to imagine, that perhaps it is not 
so much that the goods are grown dear, as that the money 
is grown cheap, as every thing else will do when exces- 
sively plenty ; and that people are still as easy nearly in 
their circumstances, as when a pair of gloves might be 
had for half a crown. The war indeed may in some de- 
gree raise the prices of goods, and the high taxes which 
are necessary to support the war may make our frugality 
necessary ; and, as I am always preaching that doctrine, 
I cannot in conscience or in decency encourage the con- 
as 



354 



FRANKLIN 



trary, by my example, in furnishing my children with 
foolish modes and luxuries. I therefore send all the ar- 
ticles vou desire, that are useful and necessary, and omit 
the rest ; for, as you say you should " have great pride in 
wearing any thing I send, and showing it as your father's 
taste," I must avoid giving you an opportunitv of doing 
that with either lace or feathers. It you wear your cam- 
bric rutBes as I do, and take care not to mend the holes, 
they will come in time to be lace ; and feathers, my dear 
girl, may be had in America from every cock's tail. 

If you happen again to see General Washington, 
assure him of my very great and sincere respect, and tell 
him. that all the old Generals here amuse themselves in 
studving the accounts of his operations, ai)d approve 
highlv of his conduct. 

Present mv affectionate regards to all friends that in- 
quire after me, particularly Mr. Duffield and family, and 
write oftener, my dear child, to your loving father. 

B. Franklin. 



TO THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE 

Passy, 19 August, 1779. 

You ask mv opinion, what conduct the English will 
probablv hold on this occasion, and whether they will not 
rather propose a negotiation for a peace. I have but one 
rule to go bv in judging of those people, which is, that 
whatever is prudent for them to do they will omit ; and 
what is most imprudent to be done, they will do it. This, 
like other general rules, may sometimes have its excep- 
tions : but I think it will hold good for the most part, at 
least while the present ministry continues, or. rather, 
while the present madman has the choice of ministers. 

You desire to know whether I am satisfied with the 
ministers here? It is impossible for anybody to be more 
so. I see they exert themselves greatly in the common 
cause, and do every thing for us they can. \Ve can wish 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 355 

for nothing more, unless our great want of money should 
make us wish for a subsidy, to enable us to act more vig- 
orously in expelling the enemy from their remaining 
posts, and reducing Canada. But their own expenses are 
so great, that I cannot press such an addition to it. I 
hope, however, that we shall get some supplies of arms 
and ammunition, and perhaps, when they can be spared, 
some ships to aid in reducing New York and Rhode 
Island. With the sincerest esteem and respect, I am 
ever, &c. B. Franklin. 



TO GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Passy, 5 March, 1780. 

I have received but lately the letter your Excellency 
did me the honor of writing to me in recommendation of 
the Marquis de Lafayette. His modesty detained it long 
in his own hands. We became acquainted, however, 
from the time of his arrival at Paris ; and his zeal for the 
honor of our country, his activity in our affairs here, and 
his firm attachment to our cause and to you, impressed 
me with the same regard and esteem for him that your 
Excellency's letter would have done, had it been immedi- 
ately delivered to me. 

Should peace arrive after another campaign or two, 
and afford us a little leisure, I should be happy to see 
your Excellency in Europe, and to accompany you, if my 
age and strength would permit, in visiting some of its 
ancient and most famous kingdoms. You would, on this 
side of the sea, enjoy the great reputation you have ac- 
quired, pure and free from those little shades that the 
jealousy and envy of a man's countrymen and contem- 
poraries are ever endeavouring to cast over living merit. 
Here you would know, and enjoy, what posterity will 
say of Washington. For a thousand leagues have nearly 
the same effect with a thousand vears. The feeble voice 
of those grovelling passions cannot extend so far either 



-,6 FRANKLIN 

in time or distvince. At present I enjcty that pleasnre for 
vou : as I frequently hear the old generals of this martial 
country, who study the maps of America, and mark upon 
them all vour operations, speak with sincere approbation 
and great applause of vour conduct ; and join in giving 
vou the character of one of the greatest captams of the 
age. 

I must soon quit this scene, but you may live to see 
our countrv flourish, as it will amazingly and rapidly 
after the war is over ; like a field of young Indian corn, 
which long fair weather and sunshine had enfeebled and 
discolored, and which in that weak state, by a thunder gust 
of violent wind. hail, and rain, seemed to be threatened 
with absolute destruction : yet the storm being past, it 
jrecovers fresh verdure, shoots up with double vigor, and 
deliii'hts the eve. not of its owner only, but of every ob- 
serving traveller. 

The best wishes that can be formed for your health, 
honor, and happiness, ever attend you from yours, ^^c. 

B. Franklin. 

TO THOMAS BOND 

Passv. i6 March. irSo. 

Dear Sir : I received your kind letter of September 
the 2-Mid. and I thank you for the pleasing account you 
give me of the health and welfare of my old friends. 
Hugh Roberts. Luke Morris, Philip Syng. Samuel 
Rhoads. ..*^c.. with the same of yourself and family. 
Shake the old ones by the hand for me. and give the 
vounc: ones mv blessing. For my own part. I do not 
find that I grow any older. Being arrived at seventy, 
and considering that bv travelling further in the same 
road 1 should probably be led to the grave. I stopped 
short, turned about, and walked back again : which, hav- 
ing done these four vears. you may now call me sixty-six. 
Advise those old friends of ours to follow my example : 
keep up your spirits, and that will keep up your bodies : 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



357 



you will no more stoop under the weight of age, than if 
you had swallowed a hand-spike. 1 am, ever, &c., 

B. Franklin. 

TO MISS GEORGIANA SHIPLEY 

Passy, 8 October, 17S0. 

Your translations from Horace, as far as I can judge 
of poetry and translations, are very good. That of the 
Quo, quo scelcstt ruitis f is so suitable to the times that the 
conclusion (in your version) seems to threaten like a proph- 
ecy ; and methinks there is at least some appearance of 
danger that it may be fulfilled. I am unhappily an enemy, 
yet I think there has been enough of blood spilt, and I 
wish what is left in the veins of that once loved people, 
ma}' be spared by a peace solid and everlasting. 

Indolent as I have confessed myself to be, I could not, 
you see, miss this good and safe opportunitv of sending 
you a few lines, with my best wishes for your happiness, 
and that of the whole dear and amiable family in whose 
sweet society I have spent so many happy hours. Mr. 
Jones tells me he shall have a pleasure in being the bearer 
of my letter, of which I make no doubt. I learn from 
him, that to your drawing, and music, and painting, and 
poetry, and Latin, you have added a proficiency in chess ; 
so that you are, as the French say, revtplie dc talcns. May 
they and vou fall to the lot of one, that shall duly value 
them, and love you as much as I do. Adieu. 

B. Franklin. 

The following:: letter is from Dr. Franklin to the Marquis de Lafayettte, 
then serving in the American army : 

TO THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE 

Passy. May 14, 1781. 

Dear Sir : You are a very good correspondent, which 
I do not deserve, as I am a bad one. The truth is I have 



',5S FRANKLIN 

too much business upon mv hands, a great deal of it for- 
eisrn to mv function as a minister, which interferes with 
mv writing regularly to my friends. But I am neverthe- 
less extremelv sensible of your kindness in sending me 
such frequent and full intelligence of the state of affairs 
on vour side of the water, and in letting me see by your 
letters, that vour health continues, as well as your zeal, 
tor our cause and country. 

I hope that by this time the ship which has the honor 
of bearing your name, is safely arrived. She carries cloth- 
ing for nearlv 20.000 men, with arms, ammunition, etc., 
which will supply some of your wants ; and Colonel 
Laurens will bring a considerable addition, if Providence 
favors his passage. You will receive from him the par- 
ticulars, which makes my writing by him more fully un- 
necessarv. Your friends have heard of your being gone 
against the traitor Arnold, and are anxious to hear of 
vour success, and that you have brought him to punish- 
ment. Enclosed is a copy of a letter from his agent in 
England, captured by one of our cruisers, and by which 
the price or reward he received for his treachery mav be 
guessed at. Judas sold only one man. Arnold, three mil- 
lions. Judas got for his one man thirty pieces of silver; 
Arnold not a half-penny a head.' A miserable bargain I 
especiallv when one considers the quantity of infamy he 
has acquired to himself, and entailed on his familv. 

The English are in a fair way of gaining still more 
enemies : they play a desperate game. Fortune mav favor 
them as it sometimes does a drunken dicer. But by their 
tvrannv in the East they have at length roused the powers 
there against them ; and I do not know that thev have in 
the West a single friend. If they lose their India com- 
merce, (which is one of their present great supports') and 
one battle at sea, their credit is gone, and their power fol- 

' This captured letter to Benedict Arnold advised him of the invest- 
ment in his name of five thousand pounds in British 4-per-cent. consols, 
at 7ii. producing ^"7,000 of stock. — A. R. S. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESrONDENCE 



359 



lows. Thus empires by pride, folly, and extravagance, 
ruin themselves like individuals. 

This court continues steady and firm in its friendship, 
and does everything it can for us. Can we not do a little 
more for ourselves ? My successor (for I have desired the 
Congress to send me one) will find it in the best disposi- 
tion towards us, and I hope he will take care to cultivate 
that disposition. You, who know the leading people of 
both countries, can perhaps judge better than any mem- 
ber of the Congress of a person suitable for this station. 
I wish you may be in the way to give your advice when 
the matter is agitated in that assembly. 1 have been long 
tired of the trade of minister, and wished for a little re- 
pose before 1 went to sleep for good and all. I thought 
1 might have held out till the peace ; but as that seems at 
a greater distance than the end of my days, I grow impa- 
tient. I would not, however, quit the service of the pub- 
lic, if I did not sincerely think that it would be easy for 
the Congress, with your counsel, to find a fitter man. 
God bless you, and crown all 3'our labors with success. 
With the highest regard, and most sincere affection, I am, 
dear Sir, etc. B. Franklin. 

The followiiif^f article is T^jeu d'csprit of a payer turn, originatinj^ from 
a memorial of the British ambassador, Sir Joseph Yorke, reclaiminjj the 
king's ships Serapis and Countess of Scarborough, prizes carried into 
Holland by the American squadron under Commodore Jones, whom Sir 
Joseph in his memorial desijjnated " the Pirate Paul Jones of Scotland ; 
a rebel subject, and a criminal of the state" : 



TO SIR J. Y , &c., &c. 

Ipswich, New England, March 7, 1781. 

Sir: I have lately seen a memorial said to have been 
presented by your excellency to their high mightinesses 
the States General, in which you are pleased to qualify 
me with the title oi pirate. 

A pirate is defined to bp /testis humani generis {sm enemy 



360 FRANKLIN 

to all mankind). It happens, sir, that I am an enemy to 
no part of mankind, except your nation, the English : 
which nation at the same time comes much more within 
the definition, being actually an enemy to, and at war with, 
one whole quarter of the world : America, considerable 
part of Asia and Africa, a great part of Europe, and in a 
fair way of being at war with the rest. 

A pirate makes war for the sake of rapine. This is not 
the kind of war I am engaged in against England. Ours 
is a war in defence of liberty — the most just of all wars ; 
and of our properties, which your nation would have 
taken from us, without our consent, in violation of our 
rights, and by an armed force. Yours, therefore, is a war 
of rapine ; of course, a piratical war: and those who ap- 
prove of it, and are engaged in it, more justly deserve the 
name oi pirates, which you bestow upon me. It is indeed 
a war that coincides with the general spirit of your nation. 
Your common people in their ale-houses sing the twenty- 
four songs of Robin Hood, and applaud his deer-stealing 
and his robberies on the highway : those who have just 
learning enough to read, are delighted with your histories 
of the pirates and of the buccaneers : and even your 
scholars in the universities, study Quintus Curtius, and are 
taught to admire Alexander, for what they call " his con- 
quests in the Indies." Severe laws and the hangman keep 
down the effects of this spirit somewhat among your- 
selves (though in your little island you have, nevertheless, 
more highway robberies than there are in all the rest of 
Europe put together): but a foreign war gives it full 
scope. It is then that, with infinite pleasure, it lets itself 
loose to strip of their property honest merchants em- 
ployed in the innocent and useful occupation of supplying 
the mutual wants of mankind. Hence, having lateh* no 
war with your ancient enemies, rather than be without a 
war, you chose to make one upon your friends. In this 
your piratical war with America, the mariners of your 
fleets and the owners of your privateers were animated 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 361 

against us by the act of your parliament, which repealed 
the law of God — " Thou shalt not steal," by declaring it 
lawful for them to rob us of all our property that they 
could meet with on the ocean. This act too had a retro- 
spect, and, going beyond bulls of pardon, declared that 
all the robberies you had committed, previous to the act 
should be deemed just and lawful. Your soldiers too were 
promised the plunder of our cities ; and your officers were 
flattered with the division of our lands. You had even 
the baseness to corrupt our servants, the sailors employed 
by us, and encourage them to rob their masters, and bring 
to you the ships and goods they were intrusted with. Is 
there any society of pirates on the sea or land, who, in 
declaring wrong to be right, and right wrong, have less 
authority than your parliament? Do any of them more 
justly than your parliament deserve the title you bestow 
on me? 

You will tell me that we forfeited all our estates by 
our refusal to pay the taxes your nation would have im- 
posed on us without the consent of our colony parliaments. 
Have you then forgotten the incontestable principle, 
which was the foundation of Hampden's glorious law-suit 
with Charles the First, that " what an English king has 
no right to demand, an English subject has a right to re- 
fuse ? " But you cannot so soon have forgotten the in- 
structions of your late honorable father, who, being himself 
a sound whig, taught you certainly the principles of the 
revolution, and that, "if subjects might in some cases 
forfeit their property, kings might also forfeit their 
title, and all claim to the allegiance of their subjects." 
I must then suppose you well acquainted with those whig 
principles ; on which permit me, sir, to ask a few ques- 
tions. 

Is not protection as justly due from a king to his peo- 
ple, as obedience from the people to their king? 

If then a king declares his people to be out of his pro- 
tection : 



362 FRANKLIN 

If he violates and deprives them of their constitutional 
rights : 

If he wages war against them : 

If he plunders their merchants, ravages their coasts, 
burns their towns, and destroys their lives: 

If he hires foreign mercenaries to help him in their 
destruction : 

If he engages savages to murder their defenseless 
farmers, women, and children : 

If he cruelly forces such of his subjects as fall into his 
hands, to bear arms against their country, and become 
executioners of their friends and brethren : 

If he sells others of them into bondage, in Africa and 
the East Indies : 

If he excites domestic insurrections among their serv- 
ants, and encourages servants to murder their masters : — 

Does not so atrocious a conduct towards his subjects 
dissolve their allegiance? 

If not, — please to say how or by what means it can 
possibly be dissolved ? 

All this horrible wickedness and barbarity has been 
and daily is practised by the King your master (as you 
call him in your memorial) upon the Americans, whom 
he is still pleased to claim as his subjects. 

During these six years past, he has destroyed not less 
than forty thousand of those subjects, by battles on land 
or sea, or by starving them, or poisoning them to death, 
in the unwholesome air, with the unwholesome food of 
his prisons. And he has wasted the lives of at least an 
equal number of his own soldiers and sailors; many of 
whom have been /(?r^r^ into this odious service, and dragged 
from their families and friends, by the outrageous violence 
of his illegal press-gangs. You are a gentleman of letters, 
and have read history : do you recollect any instance of 
any tyrant, since the beginning of the world, who, in the 
course of so few years, had done so much mischief? Let 
us view one of the worst and blackest of them, Nero. He 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 363 

put to death a few of his courtiers, placemen, and pension- 
ers, and among the rest his tutor. Had . . .* done the 
same and no more, his crime, though detestable, as an act 
of lawless power, might have been as useful to his nation^ 
as that of Nero was hurtful to Rome ; considering the 
different characters and merits of the sufferers. Nero 
indeed wished that the people of Rome had but one neck, 
that he might behead them all by one stroke; but this 
was a simple wish. . . .' is carrying the wish as fast as 
he can into execution ; and, by continuing his present 
course a few years longer, will have destroyed more of 
the . . .* people than Nero could have found inhabitants 
in Rome. Hence the expression of Milton, in speaking of 
Charles the First, that he was " Nerone Neronior," is still 
more applicable to . . . .* Like Nero, and all other 
tyrants, while they lived, he indeed has his flatterers, his 
addressers, his applauders. Pensions, places, and hopes 
of preferment, can bribe even bishops to approve his con- 
duct : but, when those fulsome purchased addresses and 
panegyrics are sunk and lost in oblivion or contempt, 
impartial history will step forth, speak honest truth, and 
rank him among public calamities. The only difference 
will be, that plagues, pestilences, and famines are of this 
world, and arise from the nature of things ; but voluntary 
malice, mischief, and murder, are from hell; and this 
. . .* will, therefore, stand foremost in the list of diaboli- 
cal, bloody, and execrable tyrants. His base-bought 
parliaments too, who sell him their souls, and extort from 
the people the money with which they aid his destructive 
purposes, as they share his guilt, will share his infamy, — 
parliaments, who, to please him, have repeatedly, by 
different votes year after year, dipped their hands in 
human blood, insomuch that methinks I see it dried and 
caked so thick upon them, that if they could wash it off in 
the Thames, which flows under their windows, the whole 
river would run red to the ocean. 

* George the Third. * George. ' British. * George the Third. * King. 



364 FRANKLIN 

One is provoked by enormous wickedness ; but one is 
ashamed and humiliated at the view of human baseness. 

It afflicts me, therefore, to see a gentleman of Sir J. Y 's 

education and talents, for the sake of a red ribbon, and a 
paltry stipend, mean enough to style such a . . . .* his 
master, wear his livery, hold himself ready at his command 
even to cut the throats of fellow subjects. This makes 
it impossible for me to end my letter with the civility of 
a compliment, and obliges me to subscribe myself simply, 

John Paul Jones, 
whom you are pleased to style 3. pirate. 

TO JOHN ADAMS 

Passy, 12 October, 1781. 

Sir : I received the letter your Excellency did me the 
honor to write me the 4th instant. I have never known a 
peace made, even the most advantageous, that was not 
censured as inadequate, and the makers condemned as 
injudicious or corrupt. ^^ Blessed are the peace-makers'' is, I 
suppose, to be understood in the other world ; for in this 
they are frequently cursed. Being as yet rather too much 
attached to this world, I had therefore no ambition to be 
concerned in fabricating this peace, and know not how I 
came to be put into the commission. I esteem it, however, 
as an honor to be joined with you in so important a business ; 
and, if the execution of it shall happen in my time, which 
I hardly expect, I shall endeavor to assist in discharging 
the duty according to the best of my judgment. With 
the greatest respect, I have the honor to be, &c., 

B. Franklin. 

TO JOHN ADAMS 

Passy, 26 November, 1781. 

Sir : I sent forward last Saturday some packets and 
letters for you which I hope got to hand in time. Most 

' Monarch. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 365 

heartily do I congratulate you on the glorious news. 
The infant Hercules in his cradle has now strangled his 
second serpent, and gives hopes that his future history will 
be answerable. 

I enclose a packet, which I have just received from 
General Washington, and which I suppose contains the 
articles of capitulation. It is a rare circumstance, and 
scarce to be met with in history, that in one war two 
armies should be taken prisoners completely, not a man in 
either escaping. It is another singular circumstance, that 
an expedition so complex, formed of armies of different 
nations, and of land and sea forces, should with such per. 
feet concord be assembled from different places by land 
and water, form their junction punctually, without the 
least retard by cross accidents of wind or weather, or 
interruption from the enemy ; and that the army, which 
was their object, should in the meantime have the good- 
ness to quit a situation from whence it might have escaped, 
and place itself in another whence an escape was impossible. 
I have the honor to be, &c. 

B. Franklin. 

TO DAVID HARTLEY 

Passy, 15 Jan., 1782. 

I received a few days since your favor of the 2d 
instant, in which you tell me, that Mr. Alexander had 
informed you, " America was disposed to enter into a 
separate treaty with Great Britain." I am persuaded, 
that your strong desire for peace has misled you, and 
occasioned your greatly misunderstanding Mr. Alexander ; 
as I think it scarce possible, he should have asserted a 
thing so utterly void of foundation. I remember that you 
have, as you say, often urged this on former occasions, 
and that it always gave me more disgust than my friend- 
ship for you permitted me to express. But, since you 
have now gone so far as to carry such a proposition to 
Lord North, as arising from us, it is necessary that I 



366 FRANKLIN 

should be explicit with you, and tell you plainly, that I 
never had such an idea; and I believe there is not a man 
in America, a few English Tories excepted, that would not 
spurn at the thought of deserting a noble and generous 
friend, for the sake of a truce with an unjust and cruel 
enemy. 

I have again read over your Conciliatory Bill, with the 
manuscript propositions that accompany it, and am con- 
cerned to find, that one cannot give vent to a simple wish 
for peace, a mere sentiment of humanity, without having 
it interpreted as a dispositio7i to submit to any base conditions 
that may be offered us, rather than continue the war ; for 
on no other supposition could you propose to us a truce 
of ten years, during which we are to engage not to assist 
France, while you continue the war with her. A truce, 
too, wherein nothing is to be mentioned that may weaken 
your pretensions to dominion over us, which you may 
therefore resume at the end of the term, or at pleasure ; 
when we should have so covered ourselves with infamy^ 
by our treachery to our first friend, as that no other na- 
tion can ever after be disposed to assist us, however cruelly 
you might think fit to treat us. Believe me, my dear 
friend, America has too much understanding, and is too 
sensible of the value of the world's good opinion, to for- 
feit it all by such perfidy. The Congress will never in- 
struct their Commissioners to obtain a peace on such 
ignominious terms ; and though there can be but few 
things in which I should venture to disobey their orders, 
yet, if it were possible for them to give me such an order 
as this, I should certainly refuse to act ; I should instantly 
renounce their commission, and banish myself for ever 
from so infamous a country. 

We are a little ambitious too of your esteem ; and, as 
I think we have acquired some share of it by our manner 
of making war with you, I trust we shall not hazard the 
loss of it by consenting meanly to a dishonorable peace. 

Lord North was wise in demanding of you some author- 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 367 

ized acknowledgment of the proposition from authorized 
persons. He justly thought it too improbable to be relied 
on, so as to lay it before the Privy Council. You can now 
inform him, that the whole has been a mistake, and that 
no such proposition as that of a separate peace has been, 
is, or is ever likely to be made by me ; and I believe by 
no other authorized person whatever in behalf of Amer- 
ica. You may further, if you please, inform his Lordship, 
that Mr. Adams, Mr. Laurens, Mr. Jay, and myself, have 
long since been empowered, by a special commission, to 
treat of peace whenever a negotiation shall be opened for 
that purpose ; but it must always be understood, that this 
is to be in conjunction with our allies, comformably to the 
solemn treaties made with them. 

You have, my dear friend, a strong desire to promote 
peace, and it is a most laudable and virtuous desire. 
Permit me then to wish, that you would, in order to suc- 
ceed as a mediator, avoid such invidious expressions as 
may have an effect in preventing 3'our purpose. You tell 
me, that no stipulation for our independence must be in 
the treaty, because you " verily believe, so deep is the 
jealousy between England and France, that England 
would fight for a straw, to the last man and the last shil- 
ling, rather than be dictated to by France." And again, 
that " the nation would proceed to every extremity, rather 
than be brought to a formal recognition of independence 
at the haughty comniajid of France." My dear Sir, if every 
proposition of terms for peace, that may be made by one 
of the parties at war, is to be called and considered by 
the other as dictating, and a haughty covtmatid, and for that 
reason rejected, with a resolution of fighting to the last 
man rather than agrc^ to it, you see that in such case no 
treaty of peace is possible. 

In fact, we began the war for independence on your 
government, which we found tyrannical, and this before 
France had any thing to do with our affairs ; the article 
in our treaty, whereb}'' the " two parties engage, that 



368 



FRANKLIN 



neither of them shall conclude either truce or peace with 
Great Britain, without the formal consent of the other 
first obtained ; and mutually engage, not to lay down 
their arms until the independence of the United States 
shall have been formally or tacitly assured, by the treaty 
or treaties, that shall terminate the war," was an article 
inserted at our instance, being in our favor. And you 
see, by the article itself, that your great difficulty may be 
easily got over, as a formal acknowledgment of our inde- 
pendence is not made necessary. But we hope by God's 
help to enjoy it ; and I suppose we shall fight for it as 
long as we are able. 

I do not make any remarks upon the other proposi- 
tions, because I think, that, unless they were made by 
authority, the discussion of them is unnecessary, and may 
be inconvenient. The supposition of our being disposed 
to make a separate peace I could not be silent upon, as it 
materially affected our reputation and its essential in- 
terests. If I have been a little warm on that offensive 
point, reflect on your repeatedly urging it and endeavour 
to excuse me. Whatever may be the fate of our poor 
countries, let you and me die as we have lived, in peace 
with each other. 

Assuredly I continue, with great and sincere esteem, 
my dear friend, yours most affectionately, 

B. Franklin. 



TO GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Passy, 8 April, 1782. 

Sir : I did myself the honor of writing to you a few 
days since by the Count de Segur. This line is chiefly 
to present the Prince de Broglie to your Excellency, who 
goes over to join the army of M. de Roochambeau. He 
bears an excellent character here, is a hearty friend to 
our cause, and I am persuaded you will have a pleasure 
in his conversation. I take leave, therefore, to recom- 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 369 

mend him to those civilities, which you are always happy 
in showing to strangers of merit and distinction. 

1 have heretofore congratulated your Excellency on 
your victories over our enemy's generals ; I can now do 
the same on your having overthrown their politicians. 
Your late successes have so strengthened the hands of 
opposition in Parliament, that they are become the ma- 
jority, and have compelled the king to dismiss all his old 
ministers and their adherents. The unclean spirits he 
was possessed with are now cast out of him ; but it is 
imagined that, as soon as he has obtained a peace, they 
will return with others worse than themselves, and the 
last state of that man, as the Scripture says, shall be worse 
than the first. 

With the greatest esteem and respect, I am. Sir, your 
Excellency's, &c., B. Franklin. 



TO JOSEPH PRIESTLEY 

Passy, 7 June, 1782. 

Dear Sir : I have always great pleasure in hearing 
from you, in learning that you are well, and that you con- 
tinue your experiments. I should rejoice much, if I 
could once more recover the leisure to search with you 
into the works of nature. . . . 

In what light we are viewed by superior beings, may 
be gathered from a piece of late West India news, which 
possibly has not yet reached you. A young angel of dis- 
tinction being sent down to this world on some business, 
for the first time, had an old courier-spirit assigned him 
as a guide. They arrived over the seas of Martinico, in 
the middle of the long day of obstinate fight between the 
fleets of Rodney and De Grasse. When, through the 
clouds of smoke, he saw the fire of the guns, the decks 
covered with mangled limbs, and bodies dead or dying ; 
the ships sinking, burning, or blown into the air ; and the 
quantity of pain, misery, and destruction, the crews yet 
24 



370 



FRANKLIN 



alive were thus with so much eagerness dealing round to 
one another; he turned angrily to his guide, and said "You 
blundering blockhead, you are ignorant of your business ; 
you undertook to conduct me to the earth, and you have 
brought me into hell ! " " No, sir," says the guide, " I 
have made no mistake ; this is really the earth, and these 
are men. Devils never treat one another in this cruel 
manner ; they have more sense, and more of what men 
(vainly) call humanity." 

But to be serious, my dear old friend, I love you as 
much as ever, and I love all the honest souls that meet at 
the London coffee-house. I only wonder how it happened, 
that they and my other friends in England came to be 
such good creatures in the midst of so perverse a genera- 
tion. I long to see them and you once more, and I labor 
for peace with more earnestness, that I may again be 
happy in your sweet society. Adieu, believe me ever 
yours most affectionately, B. Franklin. 

TO RICHARD PRICE 

Passy, 13 June, 1782. 

Dear Sir : The ancient Roman and Greek orators 
could only speak to the number of citizens capable of 
being assembled within the reach of their voice. Their 
writings had little effect, because the bulk of the people 
could not read. Now by the press we can speak to na- 
tions ; and good books and well written pamphlets have 
great and general influence. The facility, with which the 
same truths may be repeatedly enforced by placing them 
daily in different lights in newspapers, which are every- 
where read, gives a great chance of establishing them. 
And we now find, that it is not only right to strike while 
the iron is hot, but that it may be very practicable to 
heat it by continually striking. With the greatest and 
most sincere esteem and affection, I am, my dear friend, 
yours ever, B. Franklin. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 371 



TO FRANCIS HOPKINSON 

Passy, 24 December, 1782. 

Dear Sir: You do well to avoid being concerned in 
the pieces of personal abuse, so scandalously common in 
our newspapers, that I am afraid to lend any of them 
here, until I have examined and laid aside such as would 
disgrace us, and subject us among strangers to a reflec- 
tion like that used by a gentleman in a coffee-house to 
two quarrellers, who, after a mutual free use of the words, 
rogue, villain, rascal, scou7idrel, &c., seemed as if they would 
refer their dispute to him ; " I know nothing of you or 
your affairs," said he, " I only perceive that you know one 
another.'* 

The conductor of a newspaper should, methinks, con- 
sider himself as in some degree the guardian of his coun- 
try's reputation, and refuse to insert such writings as may 
hurt it. If people will print their abuses of one another, 
let them do it in little pamphlets, and distribute them 
where they think proper. It is absurd to trouble all the 
world with them ; and unjust to subscribers in different 
places, to stuff their paper with matter so unprofitable 
and so disagreeable. With sincere esteem and affection, 
I am, &c., B. Franklin. 

The negotiations for peace with America had been going on at Passy, 
either directly or indirectly, ever since the change of ministry in England. 
In this portion of the memoirs of Dr. Franklin will be seen the very con- 
siderable influence which that able statesman and negotiator exercised in 
bringing about the peace of America, and the final acknowledgment of 
her independence by Great Britain. 



TO THE HON. ROBERT LIVINGSTON, ESQ. 

Passy, Dec. 5, 1782. 

. . . You desire to be very particularly acquainted with 
" every step which tends to a negotiation." I am therefore 
encouraged to send you the first part of the journal, 



372 FRANKLIN 

which accidents and a long- severe illness, interrupted ; 
but which, from notes I have by me, may be continued if 
thought proper. In its present state, it is hardly fit for 
the inspection of Congress, certainly not for public view. 
I confide it therefore to your prudence. 

The arrival of Mr. Jay, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Laurens, 
relieved me from much anxiety, which must have con- 
tinued if I had been left to finish the treaty alone ; and 
it has given me the more satisfaction, as I am sure the 
business has profited by their assistance. 

Much of the summer was taken up in objecting to the 
powers given by Great Britain, and in removing those 
objections. The using any expressions that might imply 
an acknowledgment of our independence, seemed at first, 
industriously to be avoided. But our refusing otherwise 
to treat, at length induced them to get over that diffi- 
culty ; and then we came to the point of making proposi- 
tions. Those made by Mr. Jay and me, before the arrival 
of the other gentlemen, you will find in the paper No. i, 
which was sent by the British plenipotentiary to Lon- 
don for the king's consideration. After some weeks, an 
under-secretary of state, Mr. Strachey, arrived, with 
whom we had much contestation about the boundaries 
and other articles which he proposed : we settled some, 
which he carried to London, and returned with the propo- 
sitions ; some adopted, others omitted or altered, and 
new ones added ; which you will see in paper No. 2. 
We spent many days in discussing and disputing, and 
at length agreed on and signed the preliminaries, which 
you will receive by this conveyance. The British minis- 
ters struggled hard for three points ; that the favors 
granted to the royalists should be extended, and our fish- 
ery contracted. We silenced them on the first, by threat- 
ening to produce an account of the mischief done by 
those people; and as to the second, when they told us 
they could not possibly agree to it as we required it, 
and must refer it to the ministry in London, we pro- 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 373 

duced a new article to be referred at the same time, 
with a note of facts in support of it, which you have 
No. 3. Apparently it seemed that, to avoid the discussion 
of this, they suddenly changed their minds, dropped the 
design of recurring to London, and agreed to allow the 
fishery as demanded. You will find in the preliminaries 
some inaccurate and ambiguous expressions that want 
explanation, and which may be explained in the definitive 
treaty. And as the British ministry excluded our propo- 
sition relating to commerce, and the American prohibi- 
tion of that with England may not be understood to cease 
merely by our concluding a treaty of peace, perhaps we 
may then, if the Congress shall think fit to direct it, obtain 
some compensation for the injuries done us, as a condi- 
tion of our opening again the trade. Every one of the 
present British ministry has, while in the minority, de- 
clared the war against us luijust ; and nothing is clearer 
in reason than that those who injure others by unjust war, 
should make full reparation. They have stipulated, too, 
in these preliminaries, that in evacuating our towns they 
shall carry off no plunder, which is a kind of acknowledg- 
ment that they ought not to have done it before. 

The reason given us for dropping the article relating 
to commerce, was, that some statutes were in the way, 
which must be repealed before a treaty of that kind could 
well be formed ; and that this was a matter to be consid- 
ered in Parliament. 

They wanted to bring their boundary down to the 
Ohio, and to settle their loyalists in the Illinois country. 
We did not choose such neighbors. 

We communicated all the articles, as soon as they were 
signed, to Mons. le Comte de Vergennes, (except the sepa- 
rate one) who thinks we have managed well, and told me, — 
that we had settled what was most apprehended as a dif- 
ficulty in the work of a general peace, by obtaining the 
declaration of our independence. . . . 

I am now near entering my seventy-fifth year. Public 



374 



FRANKLIN 



business has engrossed fifty of them. I wish, for the little 
time I have left, to be my own master. If I live to see 
this peace concluded, I shall beg leave to remind the Con- 
gress of their promise then to dismiss me. I shall be 
happy to sing with old Simeon, " Now lettest thou thy serv- 
ant depart in peace, for 7nine eyes have seen thy salvation^ 
With great esteem, &c., 

B. Franklin. 

This business being accomplished, and Dr. Franlclin not receiving any 
answer whatever from Congress to his repeated oilcial applications to be 
recalled, and his anxiety to return home increasing with his age and in- 
firmities, he addressed a private request to the same effect to his friend 
General Mifflin, then President of Congress, in order, through his interpo- 
sition and influence, to obtain the wished-for object. 

BALLOON ASCENSION IN PARIS 

July 15. The Duke de Chartres's balloon went off this 
morning from the St. Cloud, himself and three others in 
the gallery. It was foggy, and they were soon out of 
sight. But the machine being disordered, so that the 
trap or valve could not be opened to let out the expand- 
ing air, and fearing that the balloon would burst, they 
cut a hole in it, which ripped larger, and they fell rapidly, 
but received no harm. They had been a vast height, met 
with a cloud of snow, and a tornado, which frightened 
them. 

Sunday 18. A good abb6 brings me a large manu- 
script containing a scheme of reformation of all churches 
and states, religion, commerce, laws, &c., which he has 
planned in his closet, without much knowledge of the 
world. I have promised to look it over, and he is to 
call next Thursday. It is amazing the number of legislat- 
ors that kindly bring me new plans for governing the 
United States. 

In the year 1784, when animal magnetism made considerable noise 
in the world, particularly at Paris, it was thought a matter of such im- 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



375 



portance that the king appointed commissioners to examine into the 
foundation of this pretended science. Dr. Franklin, at the particular re- 
quest of his Majesty, signified to him by a letter from the minister, con- 
sented to be one of the number. After a fair and diligent examination, 
in the course of which Dr. Delon, a pupil and partner of Mcsmer, repeated 
a number of experiments in the presence of the commissioners, some of 
which were tried upon themselves, they determined that it was a mere 
trick, intended to impose on the ignorant and credulous, and gave in their 
report accordingly to his Majesty, which was afterward published for the 
information of the public. Mesmer and his associate Delon were thus 
interrupted in their career to wealth and fame, and a most insolent attempt 
to impose upon the human understanding baffled. 

Some time after. Dr. Franklin, in a letter to his friend Dr. Ingenhausz, 
thus notices the subject : 

Mesmer continues here, and has still some adherents, 
and some practice. It is surprising how much credulity 
still subsists in the world. I suppose all the physicians 
in France put together have not made so much money, 
during the time he has been here, as he alone has done ! 
And we have now a fresh folly. A magnetiser pretends 
that he can, by establishing what is called a rapport be- 
tween any person and a somnambule^ put it in the power 
of that person to direct the actions of the somnatnbule 
by a simple strong volition only, without speaking or 
making any signs ; and many people daily liock to see 
this strange operation. 

The important ends of Dr. Franklin's mission to Europe being attained 
by the establishment and acknowledgment of American independence, 
and the infirmities of age and disease increasing upon him, he became 
more and more desirous of being relieved from his public situation, and 
of returning to his native country. Upon a renewed application to Con- 
gress to be recalled, he at length obtained his request, and Mr. Jefferson 
was appointed to succeed him. A more able and suitable successor in 
every respect could not have been found, 

TO DAVID HARTLEY 

Passy, 6th September, 1783. 

My dear Friend : We are more thoroughly an en- 
lightened people, with respect to our political interests, 



276 FRANKLIN 

than perhaps any other under heaven. Every man among 
us reads, and is so easy in his circumstances as to have 
leisure for conversation of improvement, and for acquir- 
ing information. Our domestic misunderstandings, when 
we have them, are of small extent, though monstrously 
mao-nified by your microscopic newspapers. He who 
judges from them that we are on the point of falling into 
anarchy, or returning to the obedience of Britain, is like 
one, who being shown some spots in the sun, should fancy 
that the whole disk would soon be overspread with them, 
and that there would be an end of daylight. The great 
body of intelligence among our people surrounds and 
overpowers our petty dissensions, as the sun's great mass 
of fire diminishes and destroys his spots. 

Yours affectionately, B. Franklin. 

TO MRS. SARAH BACHE 

Passy, 26th January, 1784. 

My dear Child : For my own part, I wish the bald 
eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our 
country; he is a bird of bad moral character ; he does not 
get his living honestly ; you may have seen him perched 
upon some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, 
he watches the labor of the fishing-hawk ; and when that 
diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it 
to his nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the 
bald eagle pursues him, and takes it from him. With all 
this injustice he is never in good case ; but like those 
among men, who live by sharping and robbing, he is gen- 
erally poor, and often very lousy. Besides, he is a rank 
coward ; the little king-bird, not bigger than a sparrow, 
attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district. He 
is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave 
and honest Cincinnati of America, who have driven all 
the king-birds from our country ; though exactly fit for 
that order of knights, which the French call Chevaliers 
d'Industrie. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 377 

I am, on this account, not displeased that the figure is 
not known as a bald eagle, but looks more like a turkey. 
For in truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more 
respectable bird, and withal, a true original native of 
America. Eagles have been found in all countries, but 
the turkey was peculiar to ours ; and the first of the spe- 
cies seen in Europe, being brought to France by the Jesuits 
from Canada, and served up at the wedding table of 
Charles the Ninth. He is besides (though a little vain and 
silly, it is true, but not the worse emblem for that,) a bird 
of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier 
of the British guards, who should presume to invade his 
farm-yard, with a red coat on. 

TO SAMUEL MATHER 

Passy, 12 May, 1784. 

Reverend Sir : It is now more than sixty years since 
I left Boston, but 1 remember well both your father and 
your grandfather, having heard them both in the pulpit 
and seen them in their houses. The last time I saw your 
father was in the beginning of 1724, when I visited him 
after my first trip to Pennsylvania. He received me in 
his library, and on my taking leave showed me a shorter 
way out of the house through a narrow passage, which 
was crossed by a beam overhead. We were still talking 
as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I turning 
partly towards him, when he said hastily : " Stoop, stoop ! " 
I did not understand him, till I felt my head hit against a 
beam. He was a man that never missed any occasion of 
giving instruction, and upon this he said to me, " Vou are 
young, and have the world before you ; STOOP as you go 
through it, and you will viiss many hard thumps" This ad- 
vice, thus beat into my head, has frequently been of use 
to me ; and I often think of it, when I see pride mortified, 
and misfortunes brought upon people by their carrying 
their heads too high. With great and sincere esteem, I 
have the honor to be, &c., B. FRANKLIN. 



378 



FRANKLIN 



TO MESSRS. WEEMS AND GANT. CITIZENS OF THE 
UNITED STATES IN LONDON 

Passy, i8 July, 1784. 

Gentlemen : On receipt of your letter, acquainting 
me that the Archbishop of Canterbury would not permit 
you to be ordained, unless you took the oath of allegiance, 
I applied to a clergyman of my acquaintance for informa- 
tion on the subject of your obtaining ordination here. 
His opinion was, that it could not be done ; and that, if it 
were done, you would be required to vow obedience to the 
Archbishop of Paris. I next inquired of the Pope's Nun- 
cio, whether you might not be ordained by their bishop 
in America, powers being sent to him for that purpose, if 
he has them not already. The answer was, " the thing is 
impossible, unless the gentlemen become Catholics." . . . 

If the British islands were sunk in the sea (and the 
surface of this globe has suffered greater changes), you 
would probably take some such method as this ; and, if 
they persist in denying you ordination, it is the same 
thing. A hundred years hence, when people are more 
enlightened, it will be wondered at that men in America, 
qualified by their learning and piety to pray for and in- 
struct their neighbors, should not be permitted to do it, 
till they had made a voyage of six thousand miles out and 
home, to ask leave of a cross old gentleman at Canterbury ; 
who seems, by your account, to have as little regard for 
the souls of the people of Maryland, as King William's 
Attorney General, Seymour, had for those of Virginia. 
The Reverend Commissary Blair, who projected the Col- 
lege of that Province, and was in England to solicit bene- 
factions and a charter, relates, that the Queen, in the 
King's absence, having ordered Seymour to draw up the 
charter, which was to be given, with two thousand pounds 
in money, he opposed the grant ; saying that the nation 
was engaged in an expensive war, that the money was 
wanted for better purposes, and he did not see the least 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 379 

occasion for a college in Virginia. Blair represented to 
him, that its intention was to educate and qualify young 
men to be ministers of the gospel, much wanted there ; 
and begged Mr. Attorney would consider, that the people 
of Virginia had souls to be saved, as well as the people of 
England. '^ Sou/s /" said \\q, ^^ damn your sonls. Make to- 
bacco.'' I have the honor to be, gentlemen, &c. 

B. Franklin. 

One of the last public acts of Dr. Franklin in Europe, as plenipoten- 
tiary from Congress, took place on the 9th of July, 1785, when he con- 
cluded and signed (jointly with other American commissioners; a treaty 
of amity and commerce between the United States of America and the 
King of Prussia. This treaty is remarkable as containing a strong and 
lasting testimony of Dr. Franklin's wonted philanthropy. In it was in- 
troduced for the first time (and, to the disgrace of governments, perhaps 
for the last) that benevolent article against the molestation of the persons 
and property of unarmed citizens in time of war, and against privateer- 
ing. The establishing of this principle as the future law of nations was a 
favorite object of Dr. Franklin. 

The infirmity under which Dr. Franklin labored was such that he 
could not support the motion of a carriage. In consequence, the queen's 
litter, borne by Spanish mules, was kindly offered and gratefully accepted 
to convey him from Passy to Havre-de-Grace, where he proposed embarking. 

In this easy vehicle he made that journey, followed by his family and 
some friends in carriages. On the road he experienced ever)' mark of 
respect, attention, and kindness from several of the nobility and gentry 
whose chateaux lay adjoining, and particularly from the Cardinal de la 
Rochefoucauld at Gaillon, where he passed a night with his accompany- 
ing friends and attendants. He arrived safe at Havre without having 
experienced any material inconvenience from the journey, and there em- 
barked in a small packet, crossed the British Channel, and landed at 
Southampton. Here he remained a few days, and had the satisfaction of 
seeing his son, the former Governor of New Jersey, and receiving the 
visits of several of his English friends. Among these were the Bishop of 
St. Asaph (Dr. Shipley), Mr. Alexander, Mr. Benjamin Vaughan, &c. 
He embarked on board a Philadelphia ship, called the London Packet, 
Capt. Thos. Truxtun, on July 27, and after a prosperous voyage arrived 
in Philadelphia the 14th of September, But his own account of his jour- 
ney from Passy to Havre, and his subsequent voyage to Southampton, 
and thence to America, as taken from his pocket journal, may not per- 
haps be entirely void of interest. It is as follows : 



38o 



FRANKLIN 



PRIVATE JOURNAL 

Having staid in France about eight and one half 
years, I took leave of the court and my friends, and set 
out on my return home, July 12, 1785, leaving Passy w^ith 
my two grandsons, at 4 P. M. ; arrived about 8 at SL Ger- 
mains. M. de Chaumont, with his daughter Sophia, ac- 
companied us to Ncmterre. M. Le Veillard will continue 
with us to Havre. We met at St. Gcrmains the Miss 
Alexanders with Mrs. Williams our cousin, who had pro- 
vided a lodging for me at M. Benoit's. I found that the 
motion of the litter, lent me by the Duke de Coigny, did 
not much incommode me. It was one of the queen's, 
carried by two very large mules, the muleteer riding an. 
other ; M. le V. and my children in a carriage. We 
drank tea at M. Benoit's and went early to bed. 

Wednesday, July 13. Breakfast with our friends, take 
leave and continue our journey, dine at a good inn at 
Meiilayi, and get to Mantes in the evening. A messenger 
from the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld meets us there 
with an invitation to stop at his house at Gaillon the next 
day, acquainting us at the same time that he would take 
no excuse; for, being all powerful in his archbishopric, he 
would stop us nolens volens at his habitation, and not per- 
mit us to lodge anywhere else. We consented. Lodged 
at Ma7ites. Found myself very little fatigued with the 
day's journey, the mules going only foot pace. 

Thursday, July 14. Proceed early, and breakfast at 
Vernon. Received a visit there from Vicomte de Tilly 
and his Comtesse. Arrive at the cardinal's without 
dining, about six in the afternoon. It is a superb ancient 
chateau, built about 350 years since, but in line preserva- 
tion, on an elevated situation, with an extensive and beau- 
tiful view over a well-cultivated country. The cardinal 
is archbishop of Rouen. A long gallery contains the pic- 
tures of all his predecessors. The chapel is elegant in the 
old style, with well-painted glass windows. The terrace 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 381 

magnificent. We supped early. The entertainment was 
kind and cheerful. We were allowed to go early to bed, 
on account of our intention to depart early in the morn- 
ing. The cardinal pressed us to pass another day with 
him, offering to amuse us with hunting in his park: but 
the necessity we are under of being in time at Havre, 
would not permit. . . . 

Wednesday, July 20. The packet-boat arrives, and 
the captain (Jennings) calling at our lodging, we agree 
with him to carry us and the baggage we have here for 
ten guineas, to land us at Cowes. We are to depart to- 
morrow evening. 

Monday, July 25th. [Southampton.] The bishop and 
family lodging in the same inn, the Star, we all breakfast 
and dine together. I went at noon to bathe in Martin's 
salt water hot-bath, and floating on my back fell asleep, 
and slept near an hour by my watch, without sinking or 
turning, a thing I never did before, and should hardly 
have thought possible. Water is the easiest bed that can 
be. Read over the writings of conveyance, etc., of my 
son's lands in New Jersey and New York to my grand- 
son. . . . 

Thursday, July 28. When I waked in the morning, 
found the company gone, and the ship under sail. 

Nothing material occurred during the passage. Dr. Franklin occupied 
himself as in former voyages, in ascertaining daily the temperature of the 
sea-water by the thermometer ; and he wrote a very interesting and use- 
ful paper on " Improvements in Navigation." 

Tuesday, Sept. 13. The wind springing fair last even- 
ing after a calm, we found ourselves this morning at 
sun-rising, abreast of the light-house, and between Capes 
May and Henlopcn. We sail into the bay very pleasantly ; 
water smooth, air cool, day fair and fine. 

Wednesday, Sept. 14. With a flood in the morning 
came a light breeze, which brought us above Gloucester 
Point, in full view of dear Philadelphia I when we again 



382 FRANKLIN 

cast anchor to wait for the health officer, who, having 
made his visit, and finding no sickness, gave us leave to 
land. My son-in-law came with a boat for us ; we landed 
at Market street wharf, where we were received by a 
crowd of people with huzzas, and accompanied with ac- 
clamations quite to my door. Found my family well. 
God be praised and thanked for all his mercies ! 

The arrival of Dr. Franklin in Philadelphia is thus accurately related 
by one of his historians : " He was received amidst the acclamations of 
an immense number of the inhabitants, who flocked from all parts in 
order to see him, and conducted him in triumph to his own house. In 
the meantime the cannon and the bells of the city announced the glad 
tidings to the neighboring country and he was waited upon by the Con- 
gress, the university, and all the principal citizens, who were eager to 
testify their esteem and veneration for his character." Another writer 
thus enthusiastically notices his return : 

" His entry into Philadelphia resembled a triumph ; 
and he traversed the streets of that capital amidst the 
benedictions of a free and grateful people, who had not 
forgotten his services." 

Soon after Dr. Franklin's arrival in Philadelphia he was chosen a 
member of the supreme executive council of that city, and shortly after 
was elected president of the State of Pennsylvania, which honorable situa- 
tion he filled the whole time allowed by the constitution, viz., three suc- 
cessive years. When a general convention of the States was summoned 
to meet in Philadelphia, in 1787, for the purpose of giving more energy to 
the Government of the Union, by revising and amending the articles of 
confederation, Dr. Franklin was appointed a delegate from the State of 
Pennsylvania to that convention ; as such he signed the new constitution 
agreed on for the United States, and gave it the most unequivocal marks 
of his approbation. 



TO GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Philadelphia, 20 Sept., 1785. 

I am just arrived from a country, where the reputa- 
tion of General Washington runs very high, and where 
everybody wishes to see him in person ; but, being told 



FRANKLIN'S BIRTHPLACE, 
Which stood on Milk Street, opposite the Old South Church, 

Boston. 

Photogravure from an oM lithograph owned by the 
Bostonian Society. 



for the he 
iding '- 

v.e wilii 



^VY^V 



GO II.. 



r ano am articles of 



jUSt :"^ ! 

A Gene 
cry body wishes to 5cc 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENXE 3S3 

that it is not likely he ever will favor them with a visit, 
they hope at least for a sight of his perfect resemblance by 
means of their principal statuary, M. Houdon, whom Mr. 
Jefferson and myself agreed with to come over for the 
purpose of taking a bust, in order to make the intended 
statue for the State of Virginia. He is here, but, the mate- 
rials and instruments he sent down the Seine from Paris 
not being arrived at Havre when we sailed, he was 
obliged to leave them, and is now busied in supplving 
himself here. As soon as that is done, he proposes to 
wait on you in Virginia, as he understands there is no 
prospect of your coming hither, which would indeed make 
me very happy ; as it would give me an opportunity of 
congratulating with you personally on the tinal success of 
your long and painful labors, in the service of our coun- 
try, which have laid us all under eternal obligations. 
With the greatest and most sincere esteem and respect, I 
am, dear Sir &c. B. Franklin. 



TO JON.\THAN SHIPLEY 

Philadelphia. 24 Feb., 17S6. 

. Dear Friend : You will kindly expect a word or 
two concerning myself. My health and spirits con- 
tinue, thanks to God, as when you saw me. The only 
complaint I then had, does not grow worse, and is toler- 
able. I still have enjoyment in the company of my 
friends ; and. being easy in my circumstances, have many 
reasons to like living. But the course of nature mv.Zy. 
soon put a period to my present mode of existence. This 
I shall submit to with the less regret, as. having seen dur- 
ing a long life, a good deal of this world, I feel a growing 
curiosity to be acquainted with some other ; and can 
cheerfuUv. with filial confidence, resign my spirit to the 
conduct of that great and good Parent of mankind, who 
created it. and who has so graciously protected and pros- 
pered me from my birth to the present hour. Wherever 



384 FRANKLIN 

I am, I hope always to retain the pleasing remembrance 
of your friendship, being with sincere and great esteem, 
my dear friend, yours most affectionately, 

B. Franklin. 



TO MRS. MARY HEWSON 

Philadelphia, 6 May, 1786. 

My dear Friend : I have found my family here in 
health, good circumstances, and well respected by their 
fellow citizens. The companions of my youth are indeed 
all departed, but I find an agreeable society among their 
children and grand-children. I have public business 
enough to preserve me from ennui, and private amuse- 
ment besides in conversation, books, my garden, and crib- 
bage. Considering our well-furnished plentiful market as 
the best of gardens, I am turning mine, in the midst of 
which my house stands, into grass-plots and gravel walks, 
with trees and flowering shrubs. Cards we sometimes 
play here, in long winter evenings ; but it is as they play 
at chess, not for money, but for honor, or the pleasure of 
beating one another. This will not be quite a novelty to 
you, as you remember we played together in that manner 
during the winter at Passy. I have indeed now and then 
a little compunction in reflecting that I spend time so 
idly ; but another reflection comes to relieve me, whis- 
pering, " You know that the soul is immortal ; why then 
should you be such a niggard of a little time, when you have a 
whole eternity before you." So, being easily convinced, and, 
like other reasonable creatures, satisfied with a small rea- 
son when it is in favor of doing what I have a mind to, I 
shuffle the cards again, and begin another game. 

As to public amusements, we have neither plays nor 
operas, but we had yesterday a kind of oratorio, as you 
will see by the enclosed paper ; and we have assemblies, 
balls, and concerts, besides little parties at one another's 
houses, in which there is sometimes dancing, and fre- 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 385 

quently good music ; so that we jog on in life as pleas- 
antly as you do in England ; anywhere but in London, 
for there you have plays performed by good actors. 
That, however, is, I think, the only advantage London 
has over Philadelphia. 

With sincere and great esteem, I am ever, my dear 
friend, yours most affectionately, B. Franklin. 



TO THE ABBE MORELLET 

Philadelphia, 22 April, 1787. 

My very DEAR Friend : Whatever may be reported 
by the English in Europe, you may be assured that our 
people are almost unanimous in being satisfied with the 
Revolution. Their unbounded respect for all who were 
principally concerned in it, whether as warriors or states- 
men, and the enthusiastic joy with which the day of the 
declaration of independence is everywhere annually cele- 
brated, are indubitable proofs of this truth. 

TO THE DUKE DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD 

Philadelphia, 15 April, 1787. 

Your friendly congratulations on my arrival and re- 
ception here were very obliging. The latter was, as you 
have heard, extremely flattering. The two parties in the 
Assembly and Council, the constitutionists and anti-con- 
stitutionists, joined in requesting my service as counsellor, 
and afterwards in electing me as President. Of seventy- 
four members in Council and Assembly, who voted by 
ballot, there was in my first election but one negative, be- 
sides my own ; and in the second, after a year's service, 
only my own. And I experience, from all the principal 
people in the government, every attention and assistance 
that can be desired towards making the task as little 
burdensome to me as possible. So I am going on very 
comfortably hitherto with my second year, and I do not 
25 



386 



FRANKLIN 



at present see any likelihood of a change; but future 
events are always uncertain, being governed by Provi- 
dence or subject to chances ; and popular favor is very 
precarious, being sometimes lost as well as gained by good 
actions; so I do not depend on a continuance of my 
present happiness, and therefore shall not be surprised, 
if, before my time of service expires, something should 
happen to diminish it. 

These States in general enjoy peace and plenty. 
There have been some disorders in the Massachusetts 
and Rhode Island governments ; those in the former are 
quelled for the present; those of the latter, being con- 
tentions for and against paper money, will probably con- 
tinue some time. Maryland too is divided on the same 
subject, the Assembly being for it, and the Senate against 
it. Each is now employed in endeavouring to gain the 
people to its party against the next elections, and it is 
probable the Assembly may prevail. Paper money in 
moderate quantities has been found beneficial ; when 
more than the occasions of commerce require, it depre- 
ciated and was mischievous ; and the populace are apt to 
demand more than is necessary. In this State we have 
some, and it is useful, and I do not hear any clamor for 
more. » 

There seems to be but little thought at present in the 
particular States, of mending their particular constitu- 
tions ; but the grand Federal Constitution is generally 
blamed as not having given sufficient powers to Congress, 
the federal head. A convention is therefore appointed to 
revise that constitution, and propose a better. You will 
see by the enclosed paper, that your friend is to be one 
in that business, though he doubts his malady may not 
permit his giving constant attendance. I am glad to see, 
that you are named as one of a General Assembly to be 
convened in France. I flatter myself, that great good 
may accrue to that dear nation from the deliberations of 
such an assembly. I pray God to give it his blessing. . . . 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 387 

' The bearer of this is Mr. Paine, the author of a famous 
piece, entitled " Common Sense," published here with 
great effect on the minds of the people at the beginning 
of the Revolution. He is an ingenious, honest man ; and 
as such I beg leave to recommend him to your civilities. 
He carries with him the model of a bridge of a new con- 
struction, his own invention, concerning which I intended 
to have recommended him to M. Peyronnet, but I hear he 
is no more. You can easily procure Mr. Paine a sight of 
the models and drawings of the collection appertaining to 
the Fonts et Chausse'es ; they must afford him useful lights 
on the subject. We want a bridge over our river Schuyl- 
kill, and have no artist here regularly bred to that kind of 
architecture. 

My grandsons are very sensible of the honor of your 
remembrance, and desire me to present their respects. 
With the most sincere and perfect esteem and attachment, 
I am ever, my dear friend, &c. B. Franklin. 



TO THOMAS JORDAN, LONDON 

Philadelphia, 18 May, 1787. 

I received your very kind letter of February 27th, to- 
gether with the cask of porter you have been so good as 
to send me. We have here at present what the French 
call une assemble des notables^ a convention composed of 
some of the principal people from the several States of 
our confederation. They did me the honor of dining with 
me last Wednesday, when the cask was broached, and its 
contents met with the most cordial reception and uni- 
versal approbation. In short, the company agreed unani- 
mously, that it was the best porter they had ever tasted. 
Accept my thanks, a poor return, but all I can make at 
present. 

Your letter reminds me of many happy days we have 
passed together, and the dear friends with whom we 
passed them ; some of whom, alas ! have left us, and we 



388 



FRANKLIN 



must regret their loss, although our Hawkesworth is 
become an Adventurer in more happy regions ; and our 
Stanley gone " where only his own harmony can be ex- 
ceeded." You give me joy in telling me, that you are 
" on the pinnacle of contenty Without it no situation can 
be happy ; with it, any. One means of becoming content 
with one's situation is the comparing it with a worse. 
Thus, when I consider how many terrible diseases the hu- 
man body is liable to, I comfort myself, that only three 
incurable ones have fallen to my share, viz. the gout, the 
stone, and old age ; and that these have not yet deprived 
me of my natural cheerfulness, my delight in books, and 
enjoyment of social conversation. 

I am glad to hear, that Mr. Fitzmaurice is married, 
and has an amiable lady and children. It is a better plan 
than that he once proposed, of getting Mrs. Wright to 
make him a wax-work wife to sit at the head of his table. 
For after all, wedlock is the natural state of man. A 
bachelor is not a complete human being. He is like the 
odd half of a pair of scissors, which has not yet found its 
fellow, and therefore is not even half so useful as they 
might be together. 

I hardly know which to admire most; the wonderful 
discoveries made by Herschel, or the indefatigable inge- 
nuity by which he has been enabled to make them. Let 
us hope, my friend, that, when free from these bodily 
embarrassments, we may roam together through some of 
the systems he has explored, conducted by some of our 
old companions already acquainted with them. Hawkes- 
worth will enliven our progress with his cheerful, sen- 
sible converse, and Stanley accompany the music of the 
spheres. 

Mr. Watmaugh tells me, for I immediately inquired 
after her, that your daughter is alive and well. I remem- 
ber her a most promising and beautiful child, and there- 
fore do not wonder, that she is grown, as he says, a fine 
woman. God bless her and you, my dear friend, and 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 389 

every thing that pertains to you, is the sincere prayer 
of yours most affectionately, B. Franklin, 

in his eighty-second year. 

TO GEORGE WHATLEY 

Philadelphia, 18 May, 1787. 

You are now seventy-eight, and I am eighty-two ; you 
tread fast upon my heels ; but, though you have more 
strength and spirit, you cannot come up with me till I 
stop, which must now be soon ; for I am grown so old as 
to have buried most of the friends of my youth, and I 
now often hear persons whom I knew when children, 
called old Mr. such-a-one, to distinguish them from their 
sons now men grown and in business ; so that, by living 
twelve years beyond David's period, I seem to have in- 
truded myself into the company of posterity, when I 
ought to have been abed and asleep. Yet, had I gone at 
seventy, it would have cut off twelve of the most active 
years of my life, employed too in matters of the greatest 
importance ; but whether I have been doing good or 
mischief is for time to discover. I only know that I in- 
tended well, and I hope all will end well. 

Be so good as to present my affectionate respects to 
Dr. Riley. I am under great obligations to him, and 
shall write to him shortly. It will be a pleasure to him 
to know, that my malady does not grow sensibly worse, 
and that is a great point ; for it has always been so toler- 
able, as not to prevent my enjoying the pleasures of 
society, and being cheerful in conversation. I owe this 
in a great measure to his good counsels. 

Adieu, my dear friend, and believe me ever yours 
most affectionately, B. Franklin. 

DR. FRANKLIN'S SPEECH IN THE CONVENTION AT THE 
CONCLUSION OF ITS DELIBERATIONS 

Mr. President: I confess that I do not entirely ap- 
prove of this constitution at present ; but, sir, I am not 



390 



FRANKLIN 



sure I shall never approve it; for having lived long, I 
have experienced many instances of being obliged, by 
better information or fuller consideration, to change opin- 
ions even on important subjects which I once thought 
rio:ht, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the 
older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judg- 
ment of others. Most men, indeed, as well as most sects 
in religion, think themselves in possession of all truth, and 
that wherever others differ from them it is so far error. 
Steele, a Protestant, in a dedication, tells the Pope, that 
the only difference between our two churches in their 
opinions of the certainty of their doctrines is, the Romish 
Church is infallible, and the Church of England is Jicvcr 
in the wrong. But though many private persons think 
almost as highly of their own infallibility as of their sect, 
few express it so naturally as a certain French lady, who 
in a little dispute with her sister, said, " but I meet with 
nobody but myself that is ahvays in the right." i^' Je tie 
irouve que moi qui aie toujours raiso7t") 

In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this constitution, 
with all its faults — if they are such ; because I think a 
general government necessary for us, and there is no 
form of government but what may be a blessing to the 
people, if well administered for a course of years, and can 
only end in despotism, as other forms have done before 
it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need 
despotic government, being incapable of an}- other. I 
doubt too whether any other convention we can obtain, 
may be able to make a better constitution : for, when you 
assemble a number of men, to have the advantage of their 
joint wisdom, you inevitablv assemble with those men all 
their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, 
their local interests, and their selfish views. From such 
an assembl}' can a perfect production be expected ? It 
therefore astonishes me, sir, to find this system approach- 
ing so near to perfection as it does ; and I think it will 
astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



391 



hear that our councils are confounded like those of the 
builders of Babel, and that our states are on the point of 
separation only to meet hereafter for the purpose of cut- 
ting one another's throats. Thus, I consent sir, to this 
constitution, because I expect no better, and because I 
am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have 
had of its errors I sacrifice to the public good. I have 
never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these 
walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every 
one of us in returning to our constituents were to report 
the objections he has had to it, and endeavor to gain 
partizans in support of them, we might prevent its being 
generally received, and thereby lose all the salutary 
effects and great advantages resulting naturally in our 
favor among foreign nations, as well as among ourselves, 
from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the 
strength and efficiency of any government in procuring 
and securing happiness to the people depends on opinion, 
on the general opinion of the goodness of that govern- 
ment, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its gov- 
ernors. I hope therefore, for your own sakes, as a part 
of the people, and for the sake of our posterity, that we 
shall act heartily and unanimously in recommending this 
constitution, wherever our influence may extend, and turn 
our future thoughts and endeavors to the means of having 
it ivell administered. 

On the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a wish that 
every member of the convention who may still have ob- 
jections to it, would with me on this occasion doubt a 
little of his own infallibility, and to make vianifest our 
utianimity put his name to this instrument. 

TO M. DE VEILLARD, AT PASSY 

Philadelphia, June 8, 1788. 

My dear Friend : I received a few days ago your 
kind letter of the 3d January. 



392 



FRANKLIN 



The arret in favor of the non-catkoliques gives pleasure 
here, not only from its present advantages, but as it is a 
good step towards general toleration and to the abolish- 
ing in time all party spirit among Christians, and the mis- 
chiefs that have so long attended it. Thank God, the 
world is growing wiser and wiser ; and as by degrees 
men are convinced of the folly of wars for religion, for 
dominion, or for commerce, they will be happier and hap- 
pier. Eight States have now agreed to the proposed new 
constitution ; there remain five who have not yet discussed 
it, their appointed times of meeting not being yet arrived. 
Two are to meet this month, the rest later. One more 
agreeing, it will be carried into execution. Probably 
some will not agree at present, but time may bring them 
in ; so that we have little doubt of its becoming general, 
perhaps with some corrections. As to your friend's tak- 
ing a share in the management of it, his age and infirmi- 
ties render him unfit for the business, as the business 
would be for him. After the expiration of his president- 
ship, which will now be in a few months, he is detert)iined 
to engage no more in public affairs, even if required ; but 
his countrymen will be too reasonable to require it. You 
are not so considerate ; you are an hard task-master. You 
insist on his writing his life, already a long work, and at 
the same time would have him continuallv emploved in 
augmenting the subject, while the time shortens in which 
the work is to be executed. General Washington is the 
man that all our eyes are fixed on for President, and what 
little influence I may have is devoted to him. 

Franklin. 

to madame lavoisier 

Philadelphia, 23 October, 17S8. 

It is true, as you observe, that I enjov here evervthing 
that a reasonable mind can desire, a sufficiency of income, 
a comfortable habitation of mv own building:, having: all 
the conveniences I could imagine ; a dutiful and aflfec- 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 393 

tionate daughter to nurse and take care of me, a number 
of promising grand-children, some old friends still remain- 
ing to converse with, and more respect, distinction, and 
public honors than I can possibly merit. These are the 
blessings of God, and depend on his continual goodness ; 
yet all do not make me forget Paris, and the nine years 
of happiness I enjoyed there, in the sweet society of 
a people whose conversation is instructive, whose man- 
ners are highly pleasing, and who, above all the nations 
of the world have in the greatest perfection, the art of 
making themselves beloved by strangers. And now, 
even in mv sleep, I find that the scenes of all my pleas- 
ant dreams are laid in that city, or in its neighborhood. 
With great regard and affection, I have the honor to be, 
my dear friend, &c., B. Franklin. 

TO BENJAMIN VAUGHAN 

Philadelphia, 24 October, 1788. 

Remember me affectionately to the good Dr. Price, 
and to the honest heretic, Dr. Priestley. I do not call him 
hottest by way of distinction ; for I think all the heretics I 
have known have been virtuous men. They have the 
virtue of fortitude, or they would not venture to own 
their heresy ; and they cannot afford to be deficient in 
any of the other virtues, as that would give advantage to 
their many enemies ; and they have not, like orthodox 
sinners, such a number of friends to excuse or justify 
them. Do not, however, mistake me. It is not to my 
good friend's heresy that I impute his honesty. On the 
contrary, it is his honesty that has brought upon him the 
character of heretic. I am ever, my dear friend, yours 
sincerely, B. Franklin. 

TO BENJAMIN VAUGHAN 

Philadelphia, 2 November, 17S9. 

My dearest Friend : We have now had one session 
of Congress under our new Constitution, which was con- 



's*' 

26 



394 



FRANKLIN 



ducted with, I think, a greater degree of temper, pru- 
dence, and unanimity than could well have been expected, 
and our future prospects seem very favorable. The har- 
vests of the last summer have been uncommonly plenti- 
ful and good ; yet the produce bears a high price, from 
the great foreign demand. At the same time, great 
quantities of foreign goods are crowded upon us, so as to 
overstock the market and supply us with what we want 
at very low prices. A spirit of industry and frugality is 
also very generally prevailing, which, being the most 
promising sign of future national felicity, gives me infinite 
satisfaction. Yours most sincerely, B. Franklin. 

TO EZRA STILES 

Philadelphia, 9 March, 1790. 

Reverend and dear Sir : You desire to know some- 
thing of my religion. It is the first time I have been 
questioned upon it. But I cannot take your curiosity 
amiss, and shall endeavor in a few words to gratify it. 
Here is my creed. I believe in one God, the creator of 
the universe. That he governs it by his Providence. 
That he ought to be worshipped. That the most accept- 
able service we can render to him is doing good to his 
other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and 
will be treated with justice in another life respecting its 
conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental 
points in all sound religion, and I regard them is you do 
in whatever sect I meet with them. 

As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you 
particularly desire, I think his system of morals and his 
religion as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw 
or is like to see ; but I apprehend it has received various 
corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present 
Dissenters in England, some doubts as to his Divinity ; 
though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having 
never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



395 



with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of know- 
ing the truth with less trouble. I see no harm, however, 
in its being- believed, if that belief has the good conse- 
quence, as probably it has, of making his doctrines more 
respected and more observed ; especially as I do not per- 
ceive that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing 
the unbelievers in his government of the world with any 
peculiar marks of his displeasure. 

I shall only add, respecting myself, that, having expe- 
rienced the goodness of that Being in conducting me 
prosperously through a long life, I have no doubt of its 
continuance in the next, though without the smallest con- 
ceit of meriting such goodness. 

With great and sincere esteem and afifection, I am, etc., 

B. Franklin. 

About three weeks before his death, Dr. Franklin wrote from his sick 
bed, the masterly ironical letter that follows. It was his last contribution 
to the public press. 

ON THE SLAVE TRADE 

To the Editor of the "Federal Gazette." 

March 23, 1790. 

Sir,— Reading last night in your excellent paper the 
speech of Mr. Jackson in Congress against their meddling 
with the affairs of slavery, or attempting to mend the 
condition of the slaves, it put me in mind of a similar one 
made about one hundred years since by Sidi Mehemet 
Ibrahim, a member of the Divan of Algiers, which may 
be seen in Martin's account of his consulship, anno 1687. 
It was against granting the petition of the sect called Erika, 
or Purists, who prayed for the abolition of piracy and 
slavery as being unjust. Mr. Jackson does not quote it ; 
perhaps he has not seen it. If, therefore, some of its 
reasonings are to be found in his eloquent speech, it may 
only show that men's interests and intellects operate and 
are operated on with surprising similarity in all countries 



396 



FRANKLIN 



and climates, whenever they are under similar circum- 
stances. The African's speech, as translated, is as fol- 
lows : 

Allah Bismillah, etc. God is great, and Mahomet is 
his Prophet. 

Have these Erika considered the consequences of 
granting their petition ? If we cease our cruises against 
the Christians, how shall we be furnished with the com- 
modities their countries produce, and which are so neces- 
sary for us ? If we forbear to make slaves of their people, 
who in this hot climate are to cultivate our lands ? Who 
are to perform the common labors of our city, and in our 
families? Must we not then be our own slaves? And is 
there not more compassion and more favor due to us as 
Mussulmen than to these Christian dogs ? We have now 
above fifty thousand slaves in and near Algiers. This 
number, if not kept up by fresh supplies, will soon diminish, 
and be gradually annihilated. If we then cease taking 
and plundering the infidel ships, and making slaves of the 
seamen and passengers, our lands will become of no value 
for want of cultivation ; the rents of houses in the city 
will sink one half ; and the revenue of government arising 
from its share of prizes be totally destroyed ! And for 
what? To gratify the whims of a whimsical sect, who 
would have us not only forbear making more slaves, but 
even manumit those we have. 

But who is to indemnify their masters for the loss ? 
Will the state do it ? Is our treasury sufficient? Will the 
Erika do it? Can they do it? Or would they, to do 
what they think justice to the slaves, do a greater injustice 
to the owners ? And if we set our slaves free, what is to 
be done with them ? Few of them will return to their 
countries ; they know too well the greater hardships they 
must there be subject to ; they will not embrace our holy 
religion ; they will not adopt our manners ; our people 
will not pollute themselves by intermarrying with them. 
Must we maintain them as beggars in our streets or suffer 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



397 



our properties to be the prey of their pillage ? For men 
accustomed to slavery will not work for a livelihood when 
not compelled. And what is there so pitiable in their 
present condition? Were they not slaves in their own 
countries? Are not Spain, Portugal, France, and the 
Italian states governed by despots, who hold all their sub- 
jects in slavery, without exception? Even England treats 
its sailors as slaves ; for they are, whenever the govern- 
ment pleases, seized and confined in ships of war, con- 
demned not only to work, but to fight, for small wages, 
or a mere subsistence, not better than our slaves are 
allowed by us. Is their condition then made worse by 
their falling into our hands ? No ; they have only ex- 
changed one slavery for another, and I may say a better ; 
for here they are brought into a land where the sun of 
Islamism gives forth its light, and shines in full splendor, 
and they have an opportunity of making themselves 
acquainted with the true doctrine, and thereby saving 
their immortal souls. Those who remain at home have 
not that happiness. Sending the slaves home then would 
be sending them out of light into darkness. I repeat the 
question, What is to be done with them ? I have heard it 
suggested that they may be planted in the wilderness, 
where there is plenty of land for them to subsist on, and 
where they may flourish as a free state ; but they are, I 
doubt, too little disposed to labor without compulsion, as 
well as too ignorant to establish a good government, and 
the wild Arabs would soon molest and destroy or again 
enslave them. While serving us, we take care to provide 
them with everything, and they are treated with human- 
ity. The laborers in their own country are, as I am well 
informed, worse fed, lodged, and clothed. Here their 
lives are in safety. They are not liable to be impressed 
for soldiers, and forced to cut one another's Christian 
throats, as in the wars of their own countries. If some of 
the religious mad bigots, who now tease us with their 
silly petitions, have in a fit of blind zeal freed their slaves, 



398 



FRANKLIN 



it was not generosity, it was not humanity, that moved 
them to the action ; it was the conscious burthen of a load 
of sins, and a hope, from the supposed merits of so good 
a work, to be excused from damnation. How grossly are 
they mistaken to suppose slavery to be disallowed by 
the Alcoran ! 

Are not the two precepts, to quote no more, " Master, 
treat your slaves with kindness ; Slaves, serve your masters 
with cheerfulness and fidelity," clear proofs to the con- 
trary ? Nor can the plundering of infidels be in that 
sacred book forbidden, since it is well known from it, that 
God has given the world, and all that it contains, to his 
faithful Mussulmen, who are to enjoy it of right as fast as 
they conquer it. Let us then hear no more of this detest- 
able proposition, the manumission of Christian slaves, the 
adoption of which would, by depreciating our lands and 
houses, and thereby depriving so many good citizens of 
their properties, create universal discontent, and provoke 
insurrections, to the endangering of government and pro- 
ducing general confusion. I have therefore no doubt but 
this wise council will prefer the comfort and happiness of 
a whole nation of true believers to the whim of a few 
Erika, and dismiss their petition. 

The result was, as Martin tells us, that the Divan came 
to this resolution : *• The doctrine that plundering and en- 
slaving the Christians is unjust, is at best problematical; 
but that it is the interest of this state to continue the prac- 
tice, is clear; therefore let the petition be rejected." And 
it was rejected accordingly. And since like motives are 
apt to produce in the minds of men like opinions and 
resolutions, may we not, Mr. Brown, venture to predict, 
from this account, that the petitions to the Parliament of 
England for abolishing the slave trade, to say nothing of 
other legislatures, and the debates upon them will have a 
similar conclusion ? I am, sir, your constant reader and 
humble servant Historicus. 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 399 

During the greatest part of his life, Dr. Franklin had enjoyed an 
almost uninterrupted state of good health, and this he entirely attributed 
to his exemplary temperance. In the year 1735, indeed, he had been 
seized with a pleurisy, which ended in a suppuration of the left lobe of 
the lungs, so that he was almost suffocated by the quantity of matter 
thrown up. But from this, as well as from another attack of the same 
kind, he recovered so completely that his breath was not in the least 
affected. 

As he advanced in years, however, he became subject to fits of the 
gout, to which, in 1782, a nephritic cholic was superadded. From this 
time he was also affected with the stone, as well as the gout ; and for the 
last twelve months of his life these complaints almost entirely confined 
him to his bed. 

Notwithstanding his distressed situation, neither his mental faculties 
nor his natural cheerfulness ever forsook him. His memory was tena- 
cious to the very last ; and he seemed to be an exception to the general 
rule — that, at a certain period of life, the organs which are subservient to 
this faculty become callous ; a remarkable instance of which is, that he 
learnt to speak French after he had attained the age of seventy ! 

In the beginning of April, 1790, he was attacked with a fever and 
complaint of his breast, which terminated his existence. The following 
account of his last illness was written by his friend and physician, Dr. 
Jones : 

" The stone, with which he was afflicted for several years, had for 
the last twelve months confined him chiefly to his bed ; and during the 
extremely painful paroxysms, he was obliged to take large doses of lau- 
danum to mitigate his tortures — still, in the inter^-als of pain, he not only 
amused himself with reading and conversing cheerfully with his family, 
and a few friends who visited him, but was often employed in doing busi- 
ness of a public as well as private nature, with various persons who 
waited on him for that purpose; and in every instance displayed, not 
only that readiness and disposition of doing good, which was the distin- 
guished characteristic of his life, but the fullest and clearest possession of 
his uncommon mental abilities ; and not unfrequently indulged himself in 
those y^«;tr d' esprit and entertaining anecdotes, which were the delight of 
all who heard him. 

" About sixteen days before his death, he was seized with a feverish 
indisposition, without any particular symptoms attending it, till the third 
or fourth day, when he complained of a pain in the left breast, which in- 
creased until it became extremely acute, attended with a cough and labo- 
rious breathing. During this state, when the severity of his pains some- 
times drew forth a groan of complaint, he would observe that he was 
afraid he did not bear them as he ought, acknowledged his grateful sense 



400 



FRANKLIN 



of the many blessings he had received from that Supreme Being who had 
raised him from small and low beginnings to such high rank and consid- 
eration among men, and made no doubt but his present afflictions were 
kindly intended to wean him from a world in which he was no longer fit 
to act the part assigned him. In this frame of body and mind he con- 
tinued till five days before his death, when his pain and difficulty of 
breathing entirely left him, and his family were flattering themselves with 
the hopes of his recovery, when an imposthumation, which had formed 
itself in his lungs, suddenly burst, and discharged a great quantity of 
matter, which he continued to throw up while he had sufficient strength 
to do it ; but as that failed, the organs of respiration became gradually 
oppressed; a calm lethargic state succeeded, and, on the 17th of April, 
1790, about eleven o'clock at night, he quietly expired, closing a long and 
useful life of eighty-four years and three months." 

The following account of his funeral and the honours paid to his 
memory, is derived from an anonymous source, but is correct : 

" All that was mortal of this great man was interred on the 21st of 
April, in the cemetery of Christ's Church, Philadelphia, in that part ad- 
joining to Arch-street, in order that, if a monument should be erected 
over his grave, it might be seen to more advantage. 

" Never was funeral so numerously and so respectably attended in 
any part of the States of America. The concourse of people assembled 
upon this occasion was immense. All the bells in the city were muffled, 
and the very newspapers were published with black borders. The body 
was interred amidst peals of artillery, and nothing was omitted that could 
display the veneration of the citizens for such an illustrious character. 

" The Congress ordered a general mourning for one month through- 
out America." 



SOME ANECDOTES RELATIVE TO DR. FRANKLIN 

Dr. Franklin, when a child, found the long graces used by his father 
before and after meals very tedious. One day, after the winter's provi- 
sions had been salted, " I think. Father," said Benjamin, " if you were to 
S2iy grace over the whole cask, once for all, it would be a vast saving of 
time." 

In his travels through New England, Franklin had observed that 
when he went into an inn, every individual of the family had a question 
or two to propose to him, relative to his history, and that, till each was 
satisfied, and they had conferred and compared together their informa- 
tion, there was no possibility of procuring any refreshment. Therefore, 
the moment he went into any of these places, he inquired for the master, 
the mistress, the sons, the daughters, men-servants, and the maid- 



ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE 



401 



servants ; and having assembled them all together, he began in this 
manner : 

" Good people, I am Benjamin Franklin, of Philadelphia ; by trade a 
printer, and a bachelor ; I have some relations at Boston, to whom I am 
going to make a visit ; my stay will be short, and I shall then return and 
follow my business, as a prudent man ought to do. This is all I know 
of myself, and all I can possibly inform you of; I beg, therefore, that 
you will have pity upon me and my horse and give us both some refresh- 
ment." 

When Franklin came to England previous to the breaking out of the 
American war, he went to Mr. Hett's printing office in Wild Court, Wild 
Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, and entering the press room, he went up to 
a particular press and thus addressed the two men who were working : 
" Come, my friends, we will drink together ; it is now forty years since I 
worked like you at this press as journeyman printer." On this he sent 
for a gallon of porter, and they drank " Success to printing." 

In one of the assemblies in America, wherein there was a majority of 
Presbyterians, a law was proposed to forbid the praying for the king by 
the Episcopalians, who, however, could not conveniently omit that prayer, 
it being prescribed in their liturgy. Dr. Franklin, one of the members, 
seeing that such a law would occasion more disturbance than it was 
worth, said that he thought it quite unnecessary, for, added he, " those 
people have, to my certain knowledge, been praying constantly, these 
twenty years past, that ' God would give to the King and his counsel 
wisdom,' and we all know that not the least notice has ever been taken 
of that prayer ; so that it is plain they have no interest in the court ol 
Heaven." The house smiled, and the motion was dropt. 



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